16 Feet Of Mystery(DISCONTINUED)
by That-Typo-Was-Intentional
Summary: Uriana, known as Lia by the humans, was built to protect someone she never found. Ditching her mission, Lia tries (and succeeds) at fitting in with the "normal" world. That is, until one purchase and a single phone call suck her and the few people she DOES care about into a life of fleeing from cops and potential mercenaries. At least she got to meet those other aliens, right?
1. Chapter 1

**So...Um, obviously, this is my first story. I wrote a few chapters of this already, but about halfway through November, I kind of lost my motivation. I want to finish writing this. I don't want to abandon it, so I figured if I post it and get a bit of good feedback, I could...bring it back to life!**

 **I intend to bring romance into this, just not the first several chapters. I could change it, thought, as I'm already considering editing everything else I've written.**

 ***edit: also, I noticed that the page breaks I put in place weren't showing up, so I'm trying to fix it. There was only one in this first chapter, but it still must have been confusing.**

Lia drummed her fingers on her seat in the truck, thankful for the few days off she would be getting. Cleaning houses everyday wasn't the most difficult job ever, but it certainly got boring after a while. And she had been doing that for much longer than a while. She was tired, not in the mood to talk so early, and neither was the man driving the truck. He appeared to be deep in thought, so Lia only leaned back against the headrest and looked out the window.

They were driving on a narrow road between a set of railroad tracks and a cornfield. The expanse of vegetation lay to her right, and the stalks were bathed in the warm golden glow of the rising sun. The sky was a pale blue, a sharp contrast to the shamrock green stalks of corn. A shadow was suddenly draped over the field _and_ the truck, making Lia turn away from her window and peer through the water stained windshield, looking for the cause.

A train had come between them and the sun, blocking it from sight. The man glanced at it, but only for a second, then looked away. Lia's eyes flickered to the old green air freshener dangling from the rear view mirror. It served no purpose as it had lost it scent long ago, and was mainly there for decoration. The train gradually moved past them, and both the set of tracks and the road turned away from each other, veering in opposite directions . After almost an hour, the cool air from the country faded away, and the stuffiness of the old town plus the sun's new position high in the sky made for a really hot day. They made a few turns before pulling up in front of a building painted in two different colors, with a vertical sign that read KINCL in bold black letters hanging in front of it. There was a man walking down the front steps of the building, and he quickened his pace as the truck pulled up in his direction to avoid getting hit. Lia spoke as she was becoming extremely bored. "Cade, why are we going to the movies, again?"

Cade shut off the truck. "A theater," he corrected. "They're closing it down and the owners want to get rid of some of the stuff they have there. If we're lucky, we'll find something useful." Lia wanted to answer but noticed an all too familiar black Mini Cooper with white stripes park on the corner across the street. A loud voice was "singing" very badly from inside, and a blonde man with wild curly hair stepped out of the Mini with a tool chest in hand.

"Freaking Lucas…" Lia muttered. "Does he have any consideration for our ears? Can he even hear himself?"

"Well at least he decided to show up for work." He and Lia got out of the truck, both taking care not to slam the door. Cade grabbed a tool bag from the back of his truck and both he and Lia started to approach Lucas, who was sporting bright red sunglasses. They almost matched his reddening skin, which was usually fair. "What, surf report no good at South Padre?" Cade asked, loud enough for Lucas to hear him.

"The waves are flat and I got no gas," Lucas replied. "You know that, Cade." Lucas began to cross the street only to have a truck hauling a trailer of some sort drive right in front of him. He watched it roll by. "Dude," he reproached, "rude." He strolled by two women, one a brunette, the other a blonde, blatantly eyeing them. "Look at these two junebugs. Wooh! My, my!"

Lia leaned sideways, closer to Cade. "Remind me again why he still hangs around?" She saw his shoulders shrug out of the corner of her eye.

Lucas had almost reached them. "Hey, you're paying me on this one, right, Cade? Please tell me I'm getting paid."

"You know, Lucas, a lot of guys are just happy to have a job at all," Cade answered, taking off his glasses.

Lucas was close to stopping. "Yeah, I suppose."

Cade pointed the glasses at him. "You got any cash on you?"

Lucas pointed at Lia. "Why don't you ask her? She always gives you money." Lia gave him a look, but said nothing. Cade would just interfere as he always did.

"Don't talk about her like that," Cade defended. "Her money is well earned, alright? She already pays for like a ton of stuff, so just stop."

Lia cleared her throat. "I'm right here."

Lucas finally looked at her. "So... _Do_ you have cash?" Cade frowned, but looked like he wanted to know himself.

Lia groaned. "Ugh, yes! What do you think?" She started walking across the street. "Now let's get a move on!" she ordered impatiently. "I'm dying out here! It's so hot!"

The men watched her walk away for a moment. Lucas whistled. "As much as I don't like her, you've got to admit, she's hot."

Cade elbowed him. "Dude, she's like fifteen years younger than you."

Lucas shrugged and followed Cade to the theater. It looked old and run down, with a few tarps hanging over some of the letters of the name of the theater. Lia was already waiting beside a man with a light blue button up shirt and a white cowboy hat.

"Hey, Lucas Flannery." Lucas held out his hand after greeting the stranger casually. The man peered at him through his glasses and took Lucas' hand. Lucas shook it, and stared at the man's arm awkwardly as it flopped around like a fish out of water. Lia snickered.

As they entered the theater, the stranger's grandfather joined them. Apparently he was the landlord. His grandson started talking, and Lia got herself ready for a history lesson. She really didn't have the patience for lectures.

"Place has been in the family since twenty eight," the man began. "Grandaddy ran it all his life, ain't that right, Grandaddy?" He sighed. "Real soon, he's gonna sign it over to me."

His grandfather grunted. "The movies, nowadays, that's the trouble. Sequels and remakes, bunch of crap." He hobbled over to a poster of a movie called El Dorado and pointed at it. "I love that one. Oh…" He walked past it.

His grandson faced Cade. "He's deaf and senile," he whispered to him.

The old landlord walked more briskly, as if irritated. "Heard that," he muttered. Lia fought the urge to laugh.

"Guess he isn't so hard of hearing after all," she whispered to Cade. He shot her a smile before his serious face returned. Lia took the liberty to roam around before following the group into the projection room.

"Now these just need some spit and polish," said the man with the cowboy hat, pointing at the old projectors. "I believe they're digital. Possibly IMAX!" he finished with a grin, gesturing to the machines grandly as if he had just accomplished some great feat.

What Cade said next wiped that grin off the man's face. "Yeah, they're not. Mister, we'll just have a look around if you wanna leave us to it, okay?" Lia almost felt guilty. Cade had probably noticed that she was starting to look bored, and wanted to skip the tour and look around with her; show her everything himself. She just knew it.

The old grandfather spoke up from the far end of the room. "You know, folks used to come from miles around to see the dancing girls with the big cha-chas." He wiggled in an attempt to imitate the dancers, but failed.

Lia rolled her eyes and growled when she saw Lucas' grin. "I didn't sign up for this crap," she muttered. She got out of there and went into the actual room where you went to see the film. The giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling caught the little light shining into the room, making it shine, and even sparkle at a certain angle. She walked down the main aisle, which was relatively free of junk, easily. The red velvet seats were covered in a layer of dust, and she punched a few of them as she walked by, watching the dust released into the dank air. "Whoa. This place really let itself go. Sure it looked kinda crummy before, but now…?"

She reached the lane in front of the front row seats, where the empty floor became cluttered with old, useless objects. _Then_ the exploring became slightly less dull. She caught sight of a worn, stained football, the laces dirtied and yellow with age and use. Looking away from the ball, she spotted a mountain of junk on the left side of the room and challenged herself to climb it, trying to alleviate her boredom. Once she reached the top, she looked around, wondering if the room would appear different from her heightened perspective. She noticed the second story of seats above the seats on the first floor, having previously thought they were part of the ceiling. She also saw a large, square shape at the opposite end of the room.

"What the hell?" She jumped off the top of the mountain of trash, careful not to accidentally land on the seats. "No need to fall today. Not after the way Cade reacted last time." She sprinted in the direction of...whatever that was in the shadows. Halfway there, she could see what it was.

It was a truck. Several rags were draped over it, but Lia could still see the terribly poor condition it was in. She reached out to touch one of the countless holes on the truck's surface, but pulled away when a voice invaded silence.

"Lia? Lia, you in here?"

Lia ran back to the row of seats nearest to her, spotting Cade at the main entrance to the room. She waved at him to get his attention. "Here!" Cade saw her and smiled, nodding. He walked farther in, with Lucas on the next lane over.

"Remember this place when we were kids?" Lucas asked him. "How many girls you think you brought here in high school?"

Cade reached the front lane and shined his flashlight on the same football Lia had seen. "Only remember one." He let his arm drop and picked the ball up. It brushed against something and made a sound like a zipper would, and he readied the ball in his hands. He turned to the left to face Lucas. "Hey, heads!"

Lucas stood there dumbly, and didn't even start to raise his arms once Cade threw the ball. It hit him straight on his forehead, knocking him over onto the mountain Lia had scaled with a grunt of pain. He sat there with a hand on his head, and a few car rims fell to the floor beside him. "Ow…"

Cade spread out his arms. "That's why you didn't make the varsity team," he taunted. Lucas got up with the ball in his hand and walked to an open spot, dizzy. He touched his forehead again and got ready to throw.

"Alright." He patted the ball twice, similar to the way a basketball player dribbles a ball before shooting. "Go long." He flung the ball, but let go of it too late, throwing it downward. It bounced off one of the seats and hit the wall behind Lucas, breaking something. It finally landed in a spot in the red seats far ahead of Cade, who just stood there with awaiting hands.

Lia burst out laughing. "Dude, _I_ can throw better than that!"

Cade nodded at her. "Anyone can throw better than him. Seriously." He smiled at her, and she laughed some more.

Lucas waved them off, giving up on the football. "Leave it."

Lia straightened out and sighed. Her attention returned to the truck, and she walked back to it. She was positive that the holes covering it like spots on a dalmatian were created by bullets. Why the truck would be shot at with such repetition, however, was a great point of confusion. She was so engrossed with the vehicle before her that she didn't notice Cade had walked up behind her.

"Look at it," he whispered.

"What do you think I'm doing?" she answered sarcastically. "Writing 'im a letter?" Climbing up to the door, she heard Cade chuckle. She held on as the truck rumbled and shifted, creating a loud crash. She calmly opened the door to have a waterfall of dozens of golden cylinders pour off of the driver seat and pool at Cade's feet. She picked one up and looked at it with a raised eyebrow, as did Cade. Her eyebrows rose when she realized what it was, and a second guess from Cade further confirmed her own.

"Mortar shells?" he breathed. She turned around and looked down at Cade to see her expression mirrored on his features. Setting the object in her hand back onto the seat slowly, she gave it a perplexed look.

"What the hell happened to you?" She clambered into the passenger seat to let Cade have a look. His gaze met hers, and in an instant she knew he was thinking about buying it. It felt like groking. "Ask how much it costs," she told him slowly. She sounded like a mother whose teenage daughter kept asking for permission to go to a concert, and could no longer take the begging.

Cade got down and walked away as Lia got out. "Hey, Snakeballs," he called out to the landlord's grandson. Lia stared at the cowboy hat-wearing man blankly. She hadn't noticed he was even there. "How much for the truck?"

The man looked up at Cade with apparent confusion, as if he had no idea what Cade was talking about. "Truck?"

. . .

Lia breathed in the clean air from the field with closed eyes and a small smile. One could easily tell the difference between the air from the town and the air out in the open country. She poked her head out the window to see Lucas in his car and the tow truck right behind him. She drew her head back in and sighed.

Cade had bought the truck. Well, she and Lucas had bought the truck. She knew they'd get an earful once Tessa found out, and that would most definitely be soon.

"You think Tessa will be mad?" she asked Cade.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Let's worry about that later. Okay?"

Trying to obey, she tried to focus on their surroundings. That was when a large sign jutting out from somewhere in the cornfield came into sight. She had seen that sign several times before, and it always caused mixed emotions within her. As they drew nearer, she could finally make out what the sign said. Not like she hadn't already memorized it.

REMEMBER CHICAGO

REPORT ALIEN ACTIVITY

855-363-8392

She had lived on Earth for many years, arriving only months before the aliens the sign was actually referring to. Ten years ago. When they had, she had been disguised as a ten year old who lived on the streets of a small town in Texas, coming out only at night to look around for food just for the sake of eating. The aliens, who she later found out were called Transformers, were located much too far for her to try to find without risking being caught. Instead she went on with her life in her human disguise.

She started working at the UPTOWN theater at "sixteen" years old as an usher, not being able to go to school. That was when she met a thirty two year old Cade Yeager, and his thirteen year old daughter, Tessa. They got to know each other, having a chat whenever Cade went to the theater. That same year, she got the position of concessionist. They had to stop when Lia's boss threatened to fire her if she kept holding up the line. Ever since, they started to hang out, and now he was letting her rent at his house.

Memories of her job at the theater only a few years before it closed down flooded Lia's mind as the sign turned into a tiny speck in the distance. Her reminiscing was interrupted, however, when Cade turned from the paved road onto the bumpy dirt path that led to his house. Plenty dust rose behind them, clouding the path for anyone directly behind them.

"Do you think he'll be able to see through all the dust?" Lia asked, looking into her side mirror.

Cade glanced at the rear view mirror and nodded. "Lucas knows the path well enough by now. He'll be fine."

Lia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I meant the guy driving the tow truck."

Cade's mouth made an "O" shape. "Oh. Uh, yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine, too."

They parked at the edge of the house to leave room for both Lucas and the tow truck to park. Cade and Lia got out, and Lia walked over to the old truck all the way in the back to check it out in the bright light, leaving Cade to tell the tow truck driver how far to go. Outdoors, she could see the faded red flames against the rusted body, which she guessed could have once been a shade of blue. After it had been paid for, Cade had told her he wanted to buy the truck for spare parts. Lia also felt that there was a need to buy the truck, but not for parts. A questioning exclamation caused Lia to turn around and see Tessa storming out of the house toward Cade.

"A truck?" she cried, glaring at it for a second. "Dad, please tell me you didn't spend our money on this."

Lucas, who had been leaning on the hood of his car, stood up and started walking past her. "Oh no, don't worry, he spent _my_ money, one hundred bucks of it."

Tessa gave her father a stern look. "You wasted one hundred dollars that weren't even yours on some old truck?"

"Actually it cost one fifty," Lucas informed her, leaning on a lonely section of fence. It looked like it could snap in half any second. It was a miracle Lucas' weight didn't speed up the process.

Tessa glared at Cade. "So you _did_ waste our money!"

He held his hands up in defense. "No, I didn't spend a _cent_ on this thing."

Tessa glanced at the truck and spotted Lia looking between it and them. Tessa shook her head, understanding who had paid the remaining fifty dollars. "Dad, making Lia waste her money, I can barely forgive. After all, she supports you endlessly," she added under her breath. "But I still can't believe you keep making Lucas spend his!"

Cade gestured to Lucas. "It was an advance on his regular paycheck," he defended.

"What regular paycheck?" Lucas asked, his arms on either side of him, gripping the wood that supported him. In the distance, Lia was leaning against the side of the truck with her arms crossed. The last thing she wanted to do was get between the trio's squabbling.

Cade, as always, had a lie up his sleeve. "Which you will get back."

"When?" Lucas pressed.

Tessa was walking past him, and tossed him an answer over her shoulder. "Never," she bluntly stated. "We're broke."

Lucas whipped around to look at Cade. "I knew it." He spoke with an accusatory tone.

"Sweetheart," Cade began, causing Tessa to stop and turn around. "Could you please not _drive_ a wedge between employer and employee?" He made a cutting motion across the air before him.

Lucas was trying to piece together what information he had to get a clear picture of what was going on. "Hold on. I thought we were...Partners…"

"Look, I came up short, okay?" Cade admitted. "I had to buy her a prom dress." He pointed an open hand at Tessa, who was standing beside Lucas. "You want me to deny her a prom dress?"

"You might as well," Lucas reasoned, adjusting his position on the fence. "You denied her a prom date." From slightly behind him, Tessa looked at him and nodded in agreement.

Cade, however, wasn't about to give in. "No, I offered to take her and chaperone." He pointed at himself. Lia started walking toward them, seeing as the quarrel was reaching a likely nonexistent point.

Lucas' nose scrunched up with distaste. "Nobody wants to go to the dance with their dad, it's weird."

Lia reached them and stood beside Cade. "Listen, could you just get off his back? He has more important things to deal with than _prom dates_ , okay?"

Cade nodded and put his arm around Lia's shoulder. The young adult didn't care much for Cade's sweat pressing against her, but she said nothing. "Yeah, just get off my case." He used his other arm to point at the truck. "Do you know how much the engine on this runs for? I can break it down and strip it for parts." His eyes landed on Tessa. More accurately, her short shorts, which were living up to their name. Cade obviously did not approve, given his frown. "And sweetheart, your shorts are shrinking by the _second_ , okay?" Tessa rolled her eyes, and Lucas gave her a once over. "Cold water, air dry, _please_."

Tessa groaned and glanced at Lia, and walked away. Lia understood that Tessa wanted her to follow, so she also started walking toward the house.

Lucas squinted at Cade, as he was facing the bright sun directly. "I think she looks hot."

Cade sighed. "Not this again…" He blinked and narrowed his eyes at Lucas. "Wait, what did you say?" He had just realized that Lucas had been talking about Tessa, and not Lia.

Lucas raised both his arms in defense as if he were being stopped by a police officer. "Like a hot teen-" He hesitated. "-ager…" Lia growled and waited for Cade to say something. He wouldn't just let that slip, would he? Lucas had made many similar remarks behind Lia's back, but _she_ was twenty years old. Tessa was still underage, at seventeen. _And_ Tessa was Cade's daughter. Didn't it get him angry?

Cade gave Lucas a look of disapproval. "Oh, it's the _'teenager'_ thing that makes it better. Thank you." He stormed off toward the barn. Lia left in the same fashion toward the house, leaving Lucas with his befuddlement.

"I didn't say…It didn't sound like...What it meant…"

 **And that's it for chapter one! If you liked it, let me know. If you'd like to read more, also let me know! This is m first, so if there's a mistake in formatting or something, I apologize in advance. I'm still trying to get used to this.**

 **Again, if you enjoyed it, please leave a review. Or constructive criticism, I'm sure there are going to be plenty of errors. Nobody's perfect! In the words of Craig the Mummy, "Pharaoh knows I'm not perfect. But, I strive." Thanks for reading!**

" **I appreciate you."-DJ Khaled XD (yes I am aware of the fact that I am lame and a dork)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so, I realized that I totally forgot to put a 'disclaimer' or whatnot in the first chapter. Well, I don't own anything but my OC, so that's done…**

Lia's steps didn't lighten as she entered the house. In fact, the closer she got to Tessa's room, the heavier they became. The floor shook with her every step, and the low sound of her stomps echoed through the hall. The sound was increased when she reached the stairs, which creaked and squeaked under the impact.

She mumbled to herself, glaring at the floor whenever Lucas entered her thoughts. "This guy just doesn't know when to stop, does he?"

Her hands formed fists and she held her arms stiffly against her side. "He can say whatever he wants about me, but Tessa?" She rubbed her temples, her jaw clenched. "Whatever…"

Before going to Tessa's room, she decided to make a quick stop at her room. "Unity's probably hungry." She stepped into her small room and walked to the dresser under the window. Lying in one of the open drawers was a large white ball of fur. Lia smiled when her pet slowly stood up and hopped out of the drawer, onto the floor.

"Hey, Unity," she greeted it, shoving her anger to the back of her mind.

Lia sat on the edge of her bed, peeved by the creaking sound the springs created, and waited until her cat jumped onto the bed and crawled onto her lap. She looked at a corner of her room, where Unity's food bowl was, and saw that it was near empty. The bowl _next_ to it was half full of water.

"Good, so you _did_ eat." Unity crawled off of Lia's lap as she stood up, and meowed. "Come on." The cat leapt off the bed and onto the floor. "Tessa wants me to go see her." At the mention of her friend's name, her bad mood returned.

She stood up and walked out, walking over to Tessa's ajar door. Using the tip of her shoe to push at it, she opened it to find Tessa seated in the bright red chair in front of her desk, talking to her boyfriend on Skype.

"So yeah, she should be up-" Tessa stopped mid-sentence when she saw Lia's reflection on the screen of her laptop. "Oh, hey. I was just telling…" She noticed Lia's hazel eyes were darker than they should be. "Hey, what happened?"

Lia shook her head. "Nothing just...Kinda hot today. Makes me feel kinda miserable."

Tessa nodded slowly. She definitely wasn't convinced, but she wasn't going to push it. She leaned to the left to show Lia who was on the screen. "Look who wanted to stop by and say hi."

Lia took a few steps forward and leaned against Tessa's desk, using her right hand to support her. "Is that right, Snow White?" she asked, looking over Tessa's shoulder.

"What's with all the rhyming with you two?" he asked, shaking his head. Nevertheless, the corner of his mouth quirked upward.

Tessa gave Lia a hard look, making her sigh. "Alright, alright. _Shane,_ how have you been this afternoon?" Lia asked with mock interest. "Are you planning to visit us soon?"

Shane grinned playfully, playing along. "I _have_ been quite busy, to be honest. And to answer your second question-" His face turned into one of exasperation. "-I have no idea," he admitted, his accent ringing through. "I almost got caught that one time!"

Lia smirked. "Then learn to do ' _whatever it is you do_ ' more quietly."

Tessa kicked Lia's foot and the tip of her ears turned pink, not that anyone could see as her blonde locks were in the way. Lia looked down to make sure Unity was unharmed. "Well, my dad's sure to be busy all day in the barn. Maybe later I can get a ride from my friends and we can meet up."

Shane flicked his head in Lia's direction. "Will Victoria Justice be joining us?"

Lia frowned. "Hey, I'm the one with the nicknames here, Snow. And besides-" She looked at herself in Tessa's mirror before returning. "-I don't even look like her."

Shane shrugged. "Brown hair, brown eyes, nice body, I'd say you're pretty similar." Lia growled at him. He chuckled. "I'm kidding!"

Lia chuckled in response, yet crossed her arms. "Well, to answer _your_ question, no. I will not be joining Tessa later this afternoon."

"Come on!" he egged. "Why not? We rarely hang out as it is."

Tessa shook her head with a disapproving demeanor. "She has to help my dad. At least she _thinks_ she has to help him."

"Shut up, Tessa. You don't know my life," Lia opposed _almost_ jokingly. Her head shot up when the rumbling of an engine reached her ears. She dismissed herself with a open hand to tell the couple to wait and headed toward the neighboring room.

She walked through a black beaded curtain and into the next room, peering out the window. The truck was being set up in the barn by a sweaty Cade and a bumbling Lucas. Once the front of it went out of sight, she stood up and went back to Tessa's room.

"So? What was he doing?" Tessa asked.

"Putting the truck in the lab," she answered lazily.

"The barn, Lia," Tessa corrected. "It's a barn. Stop calling it the lab."

Lia pursed her lips, nettled by Tessa's chiding. Looking at the laptop screen, in which Shane was watching expectantly, her eyes fell upon a pile of envelopes amidst the clutter. She tugged on Tessa's arm until she realized what Lia wanted.

"Sorry, Snow. The little one's gonna have to come with me for now." Without waiting for an answer, Lia shut off the laptop and picked up the envelopes. Tessa cringed at the sight of them. "Sooo...We gonna give 'em to Cade or what?"

Tessa nodded in defeat and let Lia walk ahead of her. Her eyes widened when Lia handed her the envelopes before sitting on the stair rail. "Lia, don't-!"

"Too late!" Lia slid down the wooden rail and jumped off at the end, not surprised the Unity had been fast enough to get down to the first floor before her. Tessa sighed in relief and simply walked down the stairs, much to Lia's dismay. "You're no fun, man," Lia told her. "At least Unity ran down…"

Tessa walked past her and toward the door. "I'd rather not break a limb today, thanks."

"That was _one time_!" Lia defended, earning an eye roll from Tessa.

Lia ran through the door right before Tessa took a step outside and started jogging to the barn. "Come _on!_ I'm older than you! I thought teenagers were supposed to be risk takers! Cade has gotten way too far into your head."

Unity dashed past Lia's feet in a sprint, enjoying the space the outdoors granted her. Tessa smiled and ran after Lia. "I'm not boring, _you_ are just insane!"

They reached the barn and pulled open the door. Inside, the truck was parked in a large opening in one of the walls, the sun shining behind it.

Cade appeared from somewhere behind all the contraptions in the barn, talking to Lucas. "That goes by the circuit boards." His voice echoed in the large room. "Put the Ziess lenses over there." Somewhere near the truck, Lucas sighed as he did as he was told.

The girls, accompanied by the cat, approached Cade, and he put down what he was examining when Tessa spoke. "Dad, please. You can't keep spending money on junk just so you can turn it into _different_ junk."

"You know the rule about the 'J' word, Tessa." Lia paused for effect, and the two waited. "It's not allowed!" she scolded. Tessa's eyes twitched, and she visibly recoiled.

Cade smirked. "See, Tess? Lia understands. I've got some cool stuff in here."

Tessa rolled her eyes, but looked amused at the odd partnership between her father and Lia. Cade pointed at a theater projector; one he had gotten that same day at the theater. "That is a Super Simplex theater projector, it's very rare."

Lia pointed at a small machine on the table they were at. "What about the Smile-Pilot?"

Cade went back to examining the lens he had been holding. "Or the Exer-Mower that I invented? Simply ahead of their time."

Lia grinned. "Now, I wouldn't go _that_ far." Cade thought Lia was joking, but what he didn't know was that Lia _**was**_ an example of technology _truly_ ahead of its time.

Lucas seemed to be thinking the same thing as Lia. "Yeah, like the _alleged_ Guard-Dawg," he mocked.

The robotic canine in question was standing on the desk right in front of Cade. Its ears twitched, and it started barking and growling. Cade pointed at it, looking back at Lucas. "You're gonna get him upset."

Lia giggled at the ticklish feeling of Unity's fur brushing against her legs. Cade thought she was laughing at his joke, though, and smiled.

Lucas jogged over to the Butler-Bot, which was basically a moving trash can that brought you beer, (though Cade insisted it had other uses) and picked up the remote.

"Hey Cade! Cade!" The Guard-Dawg suddenly stopped barking, and Unity stalked away. Lucas aimed the remote at the black trash can covered in stickers. "This thing still work?"

Cade, Tessa, and Lia all turned around to face him, spouting out answers all at once.

"No!"

"Yes."

"Kinda..."

Cade glanced at Lia incredulously. She only shrugged, trying to seem innocent. Cade faced Lucas once again.

" _Yes_ ," he emphasized, "and still groundbreaking. Go back there," he instructed, pointing even further behind Lucas, and exposing the sweat stains under his arm. "And lay on the recliner and just wait for a cold one."

As Lucas started walking to the seat, Lia walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of beer herself. She knew if she asked Lucas to send the Butler-Bot in her direction after he was done using it, he wouldn't do it.

As she popped the cap off, Lucas punched an old punching bag, which broke off the chain and crashed in the opposite direction. Cade, as well as a startled Unity, apparently weren't very fond of that. "Dude, stop breakin' stuff."

Lia returned to her 'boss', though she'd never say it out loud, and found he was now seated at his desk. Tessa was beside him, tossing down the envelopes onto his desk with every pause of her sentence.

"Final notice, late notice, past due…" Cade looked up at her with a tired look in his eyes. Lia stopped drinking her beer for a moment as Lucas spoke to the Butler-Bot, telling it to bring "Daddy" the alcohol.

She resumed her drinking until Tessa spoke again, when she chose to empty her bottle as quickly as possible and almost choked as a result. "I mean, what is all this crap people send you?"

Cade pointed at the object in Tessa's right hand. "That's a Discman."

Lia stopped sputtering. "And that's-" She coughed one more time. "-an eight track tape," she answered, pointing at the other object.

Cade turned to look at Lia, confused by her coughing fit. Lia promptly hid her bottle behind her back until Cade looked away, when she silently put down the bottle on the floor.

Tessa still looked confused. "Music," Lia clarified, wiping her lips. "I regret my decision," she told herself.

Tessa looked at the two devices with indifference, and tossed them back onto the table from which they came from. "Never heard of it."

Lia ran forward and managed to catch the eight track, which Tessa had thrown a few moments later than the Discman. Unfortunately, that Discman met its fate and landed harshly with a crash.

Lia gave Tessa a harsh look. " _What_ is your problem, man?" she whispered, setting the eight track back on the table. Cade looked like he was trying not to lose it.

"Look, I fixed that it's a hundred bucks. I fix that it's two-fifty," he listed, pointing at what he was talking about. He then aimed his pen at the demolished Discman. "If I would have been able to fix that before you _broke it_ even more, it would have been twenty bucks."

Lia didn't think that was all too accurate, as Cade did not had a fixed amount of money to charge people whenever he fixed their stuff. He usually took what he was given.

Seeing as Tessa didn't look like she was changing her mind, Lia walked around the table and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, this stuff is what's gonna get you through college."

" _If_ you land one of those scholarships," Cade added.

Lia nodded. "But absolutely **no** loans, got it? We don't need any more debt than we already have."

Tessa shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "Lia, how many times do I have to tell you? _You_ aren't in debt. Stop taking on my dad's problems. It's not like you're marr-"

"What's the estimated time of arrival, usually?" Lucas unknowingly interrupted, still lazily sitting on the recliner, out of sight. "Average?" A few seconds, and beeps, later, Lucas spoke out to Cade again. "Wait, so it just brings the beer _near you_? _That's_ the trick?"

Lia shrugged, even if Lucas couldn't see it. He must have figured out that the Butler-Bot wasn't such a very good butler, as it always left its job unfinished.

Cade turned around quickly like a cat focusing on a laser, quickly forgetting what Tessa had insinuated. "It's got a couple kinks, man."

"Yeah."

Tessa placed her hands on the table and leaned her weight against them. "Dad, you think maybe some things should never be invented?"

Cade was quick to answer. "No, I don't." He stood up, noticing for the first time the beer bottle on the floor. "This is a temple of technology, you guys are standing in a holy place."

An (unfortunately) feminine and loud voice blared from far outside the barn. Lia winced upon hearing the voice of the woman who had been "interfering" with their lives for several months now.

Cade didn't wince, but he grabbed a bat and started heading out. "Purple People Eater's back and she looks hungry."

Lia followed right on his tail. Of course, she was just as angry as he was, but she usually tried to control herself. Not that it ever worked. "Can't they wait until we've been evicted before they send someone to sell this place?" she uttered.

Cade held the bat in a slack position, but his grip was firm. This time the realtor had a couple with her. "Hey, you!" Cade started running at them. "Hey!" The realtor, an African-american woman with big sunglasses and bright purple attire, removed her glasses. "I own this house! It's not for sale!"

" _ **Six**_ **months late** on payments, Mr. Yeager," she challenged. She pointed to her far left. "And I see you stealin' power at the pole!" She wore a look of pure sass on her face.

Cade wasn't deterred. "Hey, that's not your concern." He faced one of the buyers, presumably the husband. "Sir, would you like to see the property?"

"Sure," he answered, not knowing what was coming to him.

"I'd be _more_ than happy to give you a tour. I'll show you three other buyers I got buried out back, then I'll **crack your head open like an egg!** " Lia, who was behind Cade, tried to hold him back, but he suddenly swung his bat over his shoulder, making her step back.

"Cade, this is _not_ the way to go about this!" she hissed, but Cade wouldn't listen. She turned around to see where Tessa had gone, and found her standing near the barn. Lucas had taken a seat at the picnic table not far, and was watching the whole ordeal.

Cade approached the realtor with the bat poised under his shoulder like a rifle or something. "I told you don't come back here anymore!"

The clients ran back to the car, with the realtor shouting something about Cade being crazy before following them. "I will have my brother come down here and **beat** your ass!" she threatened, opening the door of her car. "Don't you start with me!"

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Cade fired back, but the woman interrupted.

"And I'll bring the police when I come, too," she yelled, hands flailing and pointing. " _My_ brother ain't no joke!"

Cade peered through the windshield of the car at the boisterous intruder, who had taken a seat. "Who, _Jerry?_ " He looked incredulous. "You bring his big ass up here, he's gonna be huffin' and puffin' before he can squeeze out of that car!"

The recipient of his anger slammed her door. "You back out on my grass, you're gonna be in big trouble!" he warned, as if he were talking to a mischievous child. "You tell Jerry to come see me. I'll give him some pecan pie!" He turned away as the woman started backing out.

Lia sighed in relief, glad _that_ was over, no matter how much she wanted the blow the car up. She looked over Cade's shoulder and saw the woman look down for a split second and switched gears.

"Why would she do that so soon…?" she muttered, and quickly found the answer. Her anger rose up to her throat, and she started marching forward to meet Cade halfway. Just as she expected, the realtor suddenly drove forward and started speeding out over the grass instead of using the dirt path. "Ugh!"

Cade turned at the sound and followed the direction Lia was looking in. He, too, saw the car mowing over the grass and raised his bat to throw it.

Lia quickly plucked it from his hands with a growl. "Give me that!" She flung the bat at the window. The bat hit the glass, visibly startling the passengers inside. She grinned triumphantly, until the car tore through the fence. Then she seethed.

Cade wasn't very excited about it, either, and threw his arms up in the air, groaning. "She smashed through the fence!?" He sighed, and walked up to Lia, draping his arm over her shoulder, breathing heavily. Lia let him lead her back to the barn, but not before Lucas tried to give Cade a word of advice.

"Cade, relax." He casually examined the label of his beer bottle. "You're going to have an aortic infarction."

"What is _that?_ " Cade asked impatiently, tired of everything at the moment.

"Think it's like a... _Brain heart attack?_ " Lucas guessed.

Lia looked it up in her head, and found that Lucas wasn't even using the proper term. She wasn't in the mood to even speak at the moment, so she didn't bother correcting him. She just wanted to go back into the barn and work or rest. Preferably the latter.

Cade quickened his pace. "Yeah, I've had one already." That almost made Lia laugh.

As they approached Tessa, Lia was filled with dread upon seeing the teen's expression. Cade didn't seem to be affected. Tessa removed her hands from her hips. "So we're stealing power now?"

Cade had an answer in a fraction of a second. "No, we're borrowing it from the neighbors."

Tessa put her hands on her small waist again. "Great. That's awesome." Lia could practically _smell_ Tessa's sarcasm. Well, she couldn't smell her sarcasm, but she _could_ sense her anxiety. Perks of being an alien, perhaps.

Lia faced Tessa. "Would you rather we _not_ have power?"

Tessa narrowed her eyes. "Why do you always have to take his side?" she asked loudly. "Why is _he_ always right?"

"Tess, she just-" Cade tried to speak.

"And why do you always _defend_ her!? Tessa interrupted. "I mean, why do you both just-? Ugh...Why do you guys _like_ each other so much?" Tessa took in their surprised faces and sighed.

Lia nodded, comprehending what was going on. " _Tessa._ I'm just saying. Would you rather we _not_ have power?"

It was a while before Tessa sighed and shook her head. "Okay. So, instead of getting mad at each other and playing the blame game, how about we be thankful that Cade here has made sure we have electricity? Even _if_ it's 'borrowed'..." Lia mumbled the last part.

Tessa didn't answer, and sighed for the third time. She faced her father. "Once I graduate and I'm gone, who's gonna take care of you? I mean, Lia isn't going to be around forever."

Lia pondered over the idea for a moment. How long _would_ she live? She had already lived for one hundred and twenty years, so…

Cade huffed. "Oh, you take care of _me_?" Tessa nodded slightly. "Who taught you how to solder a circuit?" He looked at Lia to give her the cue. Completing each other's thoughts had become something of a habit of theirs.

Lia crossed her arms, but used one hand to wave around. For emphasis, was what she told herself. "Or write a program?"

"Or French braid your hair?"

"Or throw a spiral?"

"Me," Cade finished. "That's what I do."

Tessa also had something to use. "Who taught you how to cook without ketchup? Or balance your checkbook?"

"Or buy the deodorant that best masks your stench?" Lia half-joked. She looked at the two awkwardly and shrugged. "Okay, I get it. It only works when there's something normal to say…"

She patted Cade's shoulder before walking toward the barn, leaning against its wall. She heard a meow below her and looked down to find Unity meowing by her feet.

Tessa tried to reintroduce seriousness into the conversation. " _Who_ always has to be the grownup around here?"

Cade remained silent for a few seconds. "Alright, you got a point, okay?"

"But that just means you guys make a great team," Lia supported from her spot, then laughed nervously when she remembered she wasn't supposed to be able to hear them. "Damn extraterrestrial ears," she whispered. "Hearing worms dig and crap…"

"And yes, it's been sucky around here lately," Cade admitted. "But we're gonna be fine, sweetie. You just gotta keep believing, okay? I mean, that's what great inventors do." He tried to ignore Lia's stifled chuckle. "I promise you, one day, I'm gonna build something that matters."

Tessa looked at the ground, trying to convince herself. When she looked back up, she nodded. "I believe you, Dad."

Cade looked at his daughter earnestly, slightly nodding his head. "You know, your mom would be very proud of you." Tessa smiled and nodded. Cade started walking away. "It's gonna be okay."

 **I hope this chapter turned out okay. I mean, the first five(?) chapters will be uploaded somewhat quickly. After that, however, the updates most likely** _ **will**_ **become slower.**

 _ **Please**_ **R &R. If there's something that bugs ya about this chapter or the first, tell me. Let's me know if I'm doing well or not. Thanks to the people who followed and favorited, it truly makes a difference for me. I didn't think I'd get feedback so soon.**

 **I also noticed that in the last chapter, some paragraphs were a little long. I tried making my paragraphs shorter this chapter, so they wouldn't be an eyesore for the people on mobile. (Yes I did, because I care about the reader's experience:)**

 _ **And**_ **I also realized there were no page breaks in the last chapter, so I'll try to get that fixed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Man, it took a while to get this chapter out. I got sick on Monday, and I'm still no better. I didn't feel especially motivated to write or do anything. I couldn't even celebrate New Years that much. Welp, first chapter of the year. Hope it's somethin' I can be** _ **remotely**_ **proud of.**

The sun was low in the sky by the time Cade got his robot working. Lia only watched from her seat, amused by the appearance of it. _Her_ design was much more "advanced", as her _creator_ had put it all those years ago, when he sent her to Earth.

"Lia?"

Her creator had told her nothing much, except that she had to protect his daughter.

"Lia?"

But his daughter had disappeared.

"Lia!"

"Wha-!?" Lia flinched, startled by Cade's abrupt cry. "What the hell, man?" She dramatically put her hand over her chest, where her heart was.

Cade let his robot's arm drop. "You weren't answering."

Lia sighed. "How many times did you call?"

"Three. Not including the last one."

Lia waved her hand dismissively, not catching his lie. "What did you want, anyway?"

"You forgot to eat dinner," another voice replied. " _Again_." Lia turned around to see Tessa standing far behind her.

"Well I'm not hungry," Lia defied. "I don't need your food."

It was true. Lia didn't _have_ to eat to "stay alive" like humans did. She liked to eat, though. Earth food was good. Though the fact that it was the only food she had ever tasted possibly played a role in her judgement.

"Guess you don't understand how the human body works then." Tessa was holding her hands together in front of her. If only Lia could prove her wrong.

Cade sniffed the air. "Did you bring her _pizza?_ "

Lia took a look at Tessa with excitement to see if it was true. Pizza _was_ her favorite food.

Tessa shook her head, much to Lia's disappointment. "It's spaghetti." She pointed at the trays of food she had set down. "And it's Lia's."

Cade nodded, and Lia let out a small "Yes!" It may not be pizza, but spaghetti was her _second_ favorite.

Tessa held her hands behind her back. "So listen, I'm done with homework and set with finals-" Tessa now held her hands in front of her. "-so I was just gonna take a little drive with some friends?"

She paused. "If that was okay with you?" she asked almost timidly. Perhaps it was the worn out expression on her father's face, or his sigh.

Or maybe it was the fact that Lia knew _exactly_ who it was that Tessa wanted to hang out with. "No boys," Tessa clarified, ignoring Lia's shaking head. "I know."

"You liar," Lia mouthed to her, making Tessa duck her head.

"Graduate first," she mumbled.

Apparently Cade didn't see through Tessa's false obedience. "Exactly."

"Sure," Lia muttered. She didn't plan on telling Cade about Shane any time soon, but that didn't mean she enjoyed actively lying to Cade. At the same time, however, she didn't approve of the rule Cade had bestowed upon his only daughter.

Well, it didn't seem Tessa liked having to constantly hide her relationship, either. "You _do_ know no one else has this rule, right?"

Lia gave in and nodded. "Yeah, man. I mean, it's not like she's gonna die or something if there's a boy in the car she's riding. Or have a heart attack as soon as she goes on a date." Cade raised his eyebrow at her. "I'm just saying. I think it's a pretty silly rule."

Cade was tinkering with his robot again. "Rule? Don't make it sound harsh, okay?" He took off his glasses. "It's wisdom." Lia rolled her eyes.

Cade walked away from his robot and past Tessa. "I don't think we need to be _driving_ around in the middle of the night. It's already like a quarter to eight, it's almost dark."

Lia raised an eyebrow at the doorway, where the sun was shining through brightly. "Dark?" she asked, petting her cat, which had suddenly hopped onto her lap. "He's crazy, isn't he?"

Cade walked past one of his inventions, which started launching footballs into the air. "Spud, will you stop it?" The robot fell silent.

Cade and Tessa reached a photo of him and his wife. Cade pointed at the picture. "You know where I was for my graduation?" He placed his hands on his waist.

Tessa sighed loudly and let her head droop to the side. "Yes. With me, the mistake."

"The surprise, Tess," her father corrected. "And the best thing that ever happened." He looked back at the photo. "Do we look unhappy?" he tested. "Huh? No, it's the greatest day of my life."

Lia saw Tessa fight a smile and chose to sit in the truck instead, first fetching her dinner. Any exchange between Cade and Tessa that wasn't an argument, to her, was not worth interrupting.

"I made your mother a promise before she passed," Cade continued. "Our baby's gonna be at her graduation, and that's it. Look in highschool boys know nothing. It's only later they turn into men."

Lia cringed, hearing Cade's mistake even as she took a seat inside the truck, trying to ignore the odd buzz it gave her. She set Unity on the passenger seat and shook her head.

"You shouldn't have said that, Cade." Lia ate a forkful of spaghetti. "You shouldn't have said that."

Tessa crossed her arms. "So if you were older and wiser, I wouldn't exist."

" _Had been_ ," Lia corrected, not caring that Tessa couldn't hear her.

Cade looked away, jaw tense. He looked back at Tessa with seriousness in his eyes. "That's not what I meant." He wasn't sure of what else to say, and cut back to the reason they were having that conversation in the first place.

"You know, this is a non-dating household," he abruptly stated, the volume of his voice rising. "You don't date, I don't date. That's it."

Tessa stared at him with that irreverence only teenagers seemed to possess. "Well maybe you should." She walked away and Cade followed her out.

"Tessa, wait."

Lia blinked, and started to think about what Cade had said. He had said that this was a no-dating household. Did the no-dating rule apply to _her_?

She wasn't even interested in dating. At all. The first reason was the most obvious. She was an "extraterrestrial being", as humans put it. Dating a human simply didn't feel right. She wasn't even _organic_.

Yes, she could disguise herself as an organic being, having a heart and a stomach and blood, but those attributes weren't who, or more precisely, _what_ , she was.

She had looked it up after discovering the Internet, which for some reason had taken her much longer than one would think. Once she gotten a hold of it, though, she used it to discover everything and anything she needed and wanted to know.

Including what humans would call her, should they ever find out what she was.

Robot, was the _very_ general term. But that wasn't the only reason, or even the most important reason, she had decided not to seek out that sort of relationship with a human.

The biggest problem with humans, to Lia at least, was just that. Humans were only human. They lived such a short time and were easily hurt, so Lia had decided that growing attached to any single human was a bad idea.

Even then, she couldn't help but develop a bond with the Yeagers. Cade, especially. Perhaps it was because he reminded her of her creator, who was _the only_ family she had ever known. The fact that he was more of a father figure than anyone she had ever met had also played a role in their bonding.

With that thought on her mind, she recalled what Tessa had been about to say before being interrupted by Lucas. _"It's not like you're marr-"_

"Married? Us? Gross!"

"What's gross?"

Lia jumped, almost dropping her nearly empty plate. "Whoa!" She caught her food before opening the door of the truck. She headed toward Cade, and dropped her plate off at a random table.

She held Unity in her arms, noticing the strange feeling she had felt in the truck had vanished as soon as she hopped out of the seat, but the thoughts that started to swarm in her mind dispersed when she saw Cade roll his eyes.

"Why do you always carry that cat around? He has legs."

" _She_ ," Lia corrected. "And what do you mean, always? I've only had 'er for like…For like…Barely a little while!" she finished lamely.

Cade crossed his arms. "Sure. A 'little while'." He frowned as he thought about the life span of Lia's beloved pet. Cats lived a relatively long time, though.

Right?

"Almost four years," Lia stated proudly, then what Cade was thinking entered her mind. "Almost four…" Around ten years left.

She tried to shake off the dark feeling and reached into the inside pocket of her shorts, and pulled out a cat treat. She let it roll onto the palm of her hand, and watched as Unity leaned forward in her arms to eat it.

"You let Tessa go out with her friends," she accurately predicted, trying to change the subject.

Cade saw Lia's eyes darken and reached out to stroke Unity's powder white fur. "Yup," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "Almost four." Being the unpredictable cat that she was, Unity suddenly batted Cade's hand away.

Lia's shoulders drooped an inch and Cade wrapped his arm around them, leading her to the house. "I think we've made enough progress for the day. Why don't we both just go back inside?"

"And wait for Tess to come back from her ride?" Lia tried to rhyme, smiling lightly. She nodded, holding Unity carefully, well knowing that if she dropped the large cat, it would safely land on its feet.

Even when she had reached her room and placed Unity on the floor, the thought of her death still plagued Lia. Trying to rid herself of it, she chose to focus on the feeling caused by sitting in the truck.

It was very similar to the shock one felt when they pressed on a hand buzzer, that tingle, but constant, and much fainter. _So_ faint it could practically be ignored if one tried hard enough. "How weird," she said to herself, flipping her pillow to the cooler side.

Just as she started to wonder about the origins of the truck, she heard a faint rumbling. She sat up and looked out the window before remembering the red Jeep Wrangler Tessa's friends drove around was still far down the path. Her sensitive hearing had caught the sound too early.

After a few seconds it stopped, and the crunch of Tessa's footsteps came closer and closer, until they reached the porch. Lia hurried downstairs to open the door for her, catching a glimpse of the disappearing sun in the process.

"So did you actually hang out with your friends?" Lia asked, stepping aside. "Or did you go see Snow White?"

"Shh!" Tessa scuttled inside, looking around to make sure Cade wasn't around.

Lia rolled her eyes. "Dude, what would Cade think if he heard me? The worst he'd think is that you watched a...sixty year old princess movie, potentially sitting next to a guy?"

Tessa glared. "For your information, I _did_ hang out with my friends. Now shush!"

Lia closed the door. "Ever heard of respecting your elders?" she asked, following Tessa up the stairs.

Tessa scoffed. "You? Elder? You're _three_ years older than me. It doesn't count." She heard Lia chuckle, and for a moment Tessa wondered why. Once she reached her room, she turned around. "If you're coming in, you better not have that asshole of yours."

Lia glared. "She's not _always_ an asshole."

"I don't care and I don't want it near _me_. It's evil and has red eyes. And _sharp_ claws."

Lia shook her head. "You don't have to remind me. The evidence is on our arms."

Tessa rolled her eyes, not wanting to be reminded of all the times Unity had pounced on her out of nowhere. "Are you gonna come in or not?"

"No."

Tessa stomped her foot. "Then _why_ are you telling me all this?" she hissed.

"Because I wanted to over complicate things," Lia responded, walking further down the hallway, peeling off her plaid shirt as she did so.

Tessa stared. "So you aren't even going to-? Ugh!" She stomped into her room and shut the door.

 **. . .**

After several minutes in her room, Lia started getting hot. She looked down at her sweat stained tank top and sighed. "I'm starting to look like Cade…Maybe I should go downstairs and get a drink."

She quickly checked on her cat, who was curled up in her sock drawer again, before silently exiting her room. She peeked into Tessa's room, and found she was sound asleep.

Satisfied, Lia finally reached the end of the hall and went back and forth on whether to creep down the stairs or slide down the rail. The latter was fun, but she chose the quieter alternative.

"Better safe than sorry," she whispered to herself as she crept past the screen door, only to take a few steps back when she realized Cade was standing on the porch already, looking off into the distance.

Just as Lia took a step back so as to not alert Cade of her presence (and get a beer), he addressed her.

"Where you goin'?" Lia planted her feet firmly on the ground and crossed her arms.

"It's hot...So I came down for son' t' drink."

Cade turned around and watched her for a moment, leaning against the porch rail. "Something _to_ drink, or _a_ drink?" His question yielded no answer. "Lia, you can't be drinking beer in the middle of the night."

Lia sighed. "Again with the 'middle of the night' crap," she muttered.

Cade thought some more. "Or ever. You're twenty."

Lia opened the screen door and stepped outside. "I only need a few more months!" The girl slightly regretted not disguising herself as an _older_ human when she first landed.

"It doesn't matter," the man persisted, shaking his head. "You aren't old enough. Get your ID, _then_ drink."

Lia moved to stand next to him, looking down at the floor. His phrase reminded her of the no-dating rule. _"Graduate first."_ It didn't matter. She'd sneak in a few beers when she could.

"It's against the law for me to be supplying you with alcohol, okay? It nothing personal."

"Last time I heard, dating isn't against the law, either," Lia smugly countered. "But that isn't stopping you, now is it?" Cade looked peeved, but said nothing.

A fizzing sound cut his sentence off short. Immediately recognizing the sound, Lia began to briskly make her way to the barn. Cade followed, muttering to himself.

They entered and received a warm welcome. A _very_ warm welcome.

Cade's robot had short-circuited and caught on fire, and the two observers could feel the heat even before they had run into the barn.

Lia evaded a shot of sparks that flew past her feet with a short yelp and grasped the fire extinguisher. A blast of nitrogen easily quenched the fire.

The resulting cloud of smoke, however, engulfed her, making her cough. She stepped away from the robot, fanning the air, and saw that Cade was doing the same thing.

"Unbelievable," he uttered. " _Un_ believable. God!"

Lia felt sorry for the worn out inventor, but wasn't sure how to approach him. She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "We... _You_ can try to fix it tomorrow…"

She thought for a second, keeping track of the few days off she had. "I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. To work, I mean…But I _can_...to start a job early. Get some pay," she finished quietly.

Cade didn't face her, and put his hands on his waist. He was short of breath, the running he had just taken part in now catching up to him. "No. You rarely take a break from working. You're not a beast of burden, you're a human being."

His statement made Lia slightly uncomfortable, for obvious reasons. "In the meantime-" He took another deep breath. "-something in here needs to make this family some money."

Lia took a few steps forward as Cade walked farther ahead, watching him look around in vain. Eventually, his eyes landed on the old, beaten truck, and his breathing slowed. "Lia, go to bed."

The target of his order began to protest. "But I-"

"Go. To. Bed." He turned his head and saw the darkness in her usually-caramel eyes. "You need rest, okay? Tomorrow's your last day off. Take advantage of it." He turned away. "Please."

Lia nodded, looking down, and began the slow, dreary walk back to the house. The sun had completely disappeared, leaving the sky a dark blue. As she observed the stars, she caught herself trying to find out where exactly her home planet was.

"Not very far," she concluded. "I mean, I got here in an instant." She tapped her chin. "Wait…"

She suddenly realized she didn't remember exactly how she landed on Earth. It felt like she had been standing before her creator, had blinked, and suddenly found herself on the blue and green planet.

The changing sound of her footsteps brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked down. Turned out she was now walking on the wooden steps of the porch instead of the grass of the field.

She longingly looked back at the barn, but then glared at the slant of light that peeked through the barn door. She wanted to help the man, but he had been persistent about her leave.

In childish rebellion, she chose to "sneak in" a drink before going back to bed, as was her initial intention. Scampering into the kitchen and opening the fridge, she caught sight of the many cans of beer stacked on the top shelf.

Preferring a bottle, her eyes wandered, but all she found was some food, and a few other opened, unfinished cans of beer. She quickly checked the freezer, a foggy cloud forming in front of her face as a sigh slipped from between her clenched teeth.

"Guess I'll have to go with a can…"

She reached for the frosty can, but stopped as soon as her fingertips touched the cold metal. Rethinking her decision, she realized how irreverent she was being. That didn't stop her from finding another way to misbehave, though.

"Pizza," she whispered hungrily. She slithered outside and ran far down the dirt path, occasionally looking behind her. Once she believed she was far enough, she let herself "change."

A ring of neon green light about the width of her shoulders hovered above her head, and rapidly fell to the ground. As it traveled over her body, she vanished. In a second, the green ring reemerged from the ground to reveal the changed Lia.

Her tan skin had been exchanged for silver chrome plates. Her clothes were gone, and all that was left was a thin, lean body. Her brown eyes were replaced with two large, green, almond shapes. The ring floated back up above her head, then disappeared.

The exposed alien blinked, and stretched, not having "changed" in a long time. Seldom did she do it in the ten years she had stayed on Earth, but she felt it necessary to refresh her system.

She looked down at herself; her green eyes flashlights that lit up her surroundings. After looking at her arms and hands, at her feet that didn't look like feet but more like boots, Lia jumped a few times.

"Whoa! That took longer than usual. A whole 1.2 seconds!"

She brought her hands up to her face, fingers running over the small bump of her nose, and stretching her silver lips in different whacky directions. She genuinely smiled, showing the two white rows that had taken the place of her teeth.

She sniffed the air, her sense of smell much stronger now, but caught no whiff of her favorite food.

"I guess I'm too far from the city." She grinned. "Then why don't we get a little closer?"

The soles of her feet began to glow a bright green, as if charging up for something. The light was identical to the one in her eyes. It illuminated the dirt around her like those glow in the dark stickers children insisted on sticking to the ceilings of their rooms.

As the light reached its brightest point, she was gracefully raised high above the ground. She took a deep breath of the fresh air at that height, letting the breeze run over her now synthetic black hair.

Then, with a burst of speed, she took off in the direction of the nearest city, a nearly invisible trail of neon green light behind her.

 **. . .**

The steam of her pizza was gone by the time Lia got back. Her fast flying had cooled it down more quickly than she had anticipated.

Landing on the part of the roof right next to her window, the extraterrestrial changed back into her human disguise for the second time that night. The first took place in an alley near the pizza parlor she had decided to visit.

Her window was wide open, just as she had left it, and let her clamber through. Realizing her mirror was blocking half of the window, she flung the pizza box like a frisbee onto the edge of her bed.

She then took a leap of faith and jumped _over_ the mirror's edge and landed with a 'plop' onto her bed. "I guess _this_ is why all the springs are broken…"

And that was when the pizza box, which had been balancing precariously on the edge of her bed the entire time, tipped over and fell onto the hardwood floor. _Flat_. Which made it pretty loud. Especially at midnight.

Expecting Cade to storm in any second, she slid the box under her bed and feigned sleep. When he didn't arrive, she smacked herself on the forehead.

"He must _still_ be out there working." A sigh. "Or...He fell asleep." The pizza under her bed cheered her up. "Welp. I've got pizza. And that's all I truly need."

 **. . .**

The next morning, Lia woke to the shaking of her bed. Imagining an earthquake, she shot up only to discover that the earthquake was a blonde teenage girl. And she went by the name of Tessa.

"Lia. Lia! Lia!"

"What!?" The sun was as bright as it could get, and Lia squinted to keep from going blind.

Tessa eyed the pizza box on the floor before holding up a white flyer. Lia saw the worry in her friend's kelly green eyes and quickly read the paper. The two words that stood out to her the most were the ones in bold. Lia read the words to herself slowly.

 **EVICTION NOTICE**

The weight of the words hit Lia like a slap. Her face was identical to the face Tessa made when she'd suddenly remember all the homework she hadn't finished while chilling on a Sunday night.

Lia jumped out of bed. "What? Where did you find this?" she demanded, yanking the paper from Tessa's hands.

Tessa pointed at the door. "Lucas found it on the front door."

Now Lia usually tried to keep the peace between the Yeagers. Both father and daughter were stressed out and near their breaking points. Tessa struggling to get into a college, and Cade not having the funds to send her to one.

Sometimes, however, as afore mentioned, her own emotions weren't quite in her control. And that was when and why she became frustrated.

In a fit of exasperation born out of worry, Lia stomped out of her room and nearly rammed into Lucas, dodging him just before she did. He and Tessa followed her toward the stairs curiously.

Tessa was glad Lia _walked_ instead of sliding down the rail for once, yet Tessa didn't feel as safe as she had hoped she would. Lia was stomping on the floorboards with such force that Tessa thought the girl would fall right through.

The three of them marched across the front yard and to the barn. Tessa called out to her father, possibly to warn him of her entrance.

"Dad!"

Cade's response was muffled by the walls of the barn, but Lia heard it loud and clear. "Comin'!" Her ears caught a jingle, so she assumed Cade had roughly put down one of his tools, or dropped one.

"Are you working with lasers? If so, I'm not comin' in," Tessa warned.

She barely finished her sentence when Cade swung open the door, his white shirt having more dirty spots than clean ones.

"You guys have never seen a truck like this before," he claimed, panting. He practically shoved Lia, who was in the front, inside the barn, then pushed Tessa in behind her. "Get in here." He looked at the door and then up at Lucas. "Lock that door," he ordered.

Lucas made a grab for the "lock", but found there wasn't one. "It doesn't _have_ a lock," he contradicted, simply closing the door behind him as he followed everyone in.

Cade nipped toward the radiator of the truck, which was slumped on an old table. He squatted down behind it, and peered through the giant hole near the side.

"Look at the hole in the radiator. Look at a the size of it!" he instructed quickly, almost ecstatically. "Something blew a hole in it!"

Cade's excitement didn't catch on, as shown by Lucas' stale reaction. "Yeah, so?"

Climbing the ladder a few steps away excitedly, Cade answered his question with even more details. "It's not normal steel!" He stepped onto a wooden board, which he had turned into a bridge by supporting it with two ladders on opposite ends.

"The shrapnel in the engine-" he took a breath, all his rapid movements already causing him to lose his breath. "-it tore all the connections apart." He spread out his arms to visualize the act. "And watch-" He pointed his index finger up into the air. "-and this took some Cade genius."

Lia and Tessa gave each other questioning looks at hearing his terminology. Cade went on to hop across his makeshift bridge. "You are gonna love this."

Lia passed the paper to Lucas, who took it with an unamused expression. They watched Cade pick up two jumper cables, a battery sitting before him. "When I hook this back to a working battery…"

Lia bit her lip as Cade pressed the wires to the battery, gasping when the truck came to life. Sparks flew, lights flashed, the engine roared…

And a voice spoke.

A _voice_. _**Spoke**_.

It started off strong, then trailed off. _"Calling all…"_ Then started again. _"Calling all Autobots."_

Lucas and Tessa just stared, not yet processing the magnitude if the situation. Lia, on the other hand, ran up to the truck, and placed her hand on it. The tingling was slightly stronger, though still very, very mild.

She pulled her hand back, and looked up at Cade. He glanced down at her, his excitement now infectious. To Lia, at least. He looked back up, at Tessa and Lucas, detaching the wires from the battery.

"Oh yeah, I don't think it's a truck at all." He nodded continuously. "I think we just found a Transformer."

Lia stared at the truck. "A Transformer…" she murmured, then let her mouth hang slightly open.

Lucas' expression revealed he wasn't as excited about the find as Lia. "Tran…" He frowned. "Uh...Evacuate!" he cried, dashing through the door. Tessa seemingly was thinking the same thing, and followed his lead.

Cade dropped the cables and started climbing down from his perch. "Wait!"

Lia snapped out of it and chased behind Cade. "Guys, stop!" She caught up to him, along with the others, outside. They each had a different countenance.

Tessa, for example, looked just about ready to freak. "Dad, are you out of your mind?" She seriously seemed to be questioning her father's sanity at that point. She pointed at the barn wall. "You need to get that thing out of here!"

Lia was about to protest, but Cade cut in first. "You don't have to worry, I've been in there workin' all night, I'm fine."

Lia momentarily agreed before what Cade said sank in. "You've been in there _all_ night?" she hissed, jabbing a finger into his side. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lucas got in his face before he could.

"You know what?" he rasped. "That's not a truck, okay? You're right. It's an alien killing machine!" he exploded. "Jesus…"

"Alien killing machine?" Lia mimicked. "Wait, is it an alien killer, or is it a killer of aliens?"

Lucas was too busy freaking out and trying to catch his breath to notice her sarcasm. "What do you think?"

 **Finally got this thing done, my goodness. Hope it wasn't completely boring since there wasn't a whole lot of action. This chapter had, like, two focuses, I guess. Introducing Lia's 'true form' and finally getting these characters to realize who they're dealing with here.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm glad to see so many people following and favoriting. Not only the story but also, surprisingly, me!**

 **So, this chapter is a "little" longer than the others, I think. I mean, so was the last one but whatever.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this...Just my OC. Oh yeah, and the story.**

The discussion, which had quickly morphed into a heated argument, had been going on for quite a while. No one could seem to agree on what to do with, or about, the truck. The old truck that had turned out to be a Transformer.

Lucas and Tessa wanted to call the police, or someone, to possibly get a reward for "capturing" it; for different reasons, obviously. Cade was being more reasonable, wanting to wait until he knew for sure what the truck was and how it worked before alerting anybody.

And finally, Lia just wanted to leave it alone, or "revive it or something", not wanting to damage it.

"We need the money, Dad!"

"Imagine, twenty five to a hundred thousand dollars, right on the doorstep, with _just one_ phone call!"

"Guys, I need to know how that thing works!"

Lia clenched handfuls of her hair, her sensitive hearing making all the yelling feel like she was standing next to the speakers at the loudest rock concert. Doing some research, (in her head, of course), she found that volume would reach up to one hundred and forty five decibels.

Not exactly healthy. Not to mention, unpleasant. Her eardrums felt like they were about to burst, or whatever it was they did when they couldn't take a beating any longer.

She _could_ , of course, decrease her hearing ability, but not while in "human" form. So many of her defenses had already been weakened or taken away completely, that her _design_ wouldn't allow her to weaken what was probably her last defense mechanism.

"Dad, just make the call!"

"Think of all that money!"

"We don't know if that's even true!"

That was it. Her ears couldn't take it any longer.

" **Everybody just SHUT UP!"** The air immediately went silent. After all the chaos, it didn't seem to be enough for Lia. "Just shut up, damn it!" Her teeth were grinding against each other, and her hands were now holding the sides of her head.

"All this yelling is messing with my _brain_ …" she growled, thinking of what the group wanted to do with the alien in the barn. It just wasn't fair.

Cade opened his mouth to say something, but Lia gave out the orders before he could say it. "For now, no one calls _anyone_. We go in there, try to figure out what that 'thing' is, and we'll see what goes on from there. Got it?"

She didn't wait for an answer. "Good. Now let's go. And absolutely _no_ whining, arguing, complaining, pestering, persuading, and especially, _yelling_." Lia saw Tessa glance around and knew it was useless. "At least not when I can hear it."

Surprisingly, they didn't go against her.

As soon as they walked back in, Tessa made sure to talk quietly, and as far from Lia as was possible. Lia stood in the farthest corner she could find as Tessa did that, knowing her own superb hearing would contradict her previous petition.

" _Twenty five grand!_ " she started. "It pays for my college. It pays for the house."

"Oh no, it would not," Lia muttered. "Definitely not."

Lucas backed Tessa up, but his loud way of speaking went against what Lia had demanded. "Besides, you used _my_ money to buy the truck, right? So technically, that's _my_ truck. Don't you think?" he reasoned.

Lia began to step forward to remind him that she had also put forth money to pay, but Cade disrupted that plan as he swung down from his "ladder bridge" to confront Lucas. "You also signed a contract regarding all research lab I.P."

"Research lab? It's a barn, dude," Lucas deadpanned.

The look on Cade's face was a cause for slight concern. He stepped down from his perch and walked almost menacingly toward his very confused and slightly worried "partner". He brought up a sole finger to point accusingly at Lucas.

"You signed it," Cade reminded him, "and now you're competing." Lucas continuously stepped back due to Cade's close proximity, his sandals brushing against the floor, and Cade followed.

"Any idea of yours is _mine_. Any _thought_ you have, _I_ own it, so basically, I own you," Cade finished in an almost surprised manner.

The pair finally stopped moving. Lucas paid no mind, as Cade's hostility seemed to have diminished. "I don't think you can _own_ someone," he contradicted, not exactly confident he was phrasing his thoughts correctly. "That was, like, a while ago, even in Texas."

Cade turned away from him in exasperation. He motioned Lia to come over as he slipped on his work apron and grabbed his welding helmet, decorated with a ridiculous sticker of a mouth filled with sharp teeth, as well as stickers of a pair of eyes glued onto the front.

Lia remembered the day Cade had bought those. Shaking her head slowly as the memory came back to her, she felt her annoyance evanesce.

"Alright," he panted, making Lia wonder why he was suddenly out of breath. "Bring the torch over and help me with the pulley arm."

Lia maintained a straight course in Cade's direction, letting Lucas move aside to let her through instead of moving around him. Lucas followed Cade, groaning, as he strolled over to the truck, while Lia hauled a large tank behind them on a black hand truck.

"I think the shrapnel took out its power core," Cade analyzed, picking up a hammer. He glanced at Tessa confidently. "Oh, and Tessa, you see this?" He held the hammer high to show what he was talking about.

Tessa caught sight of the hammer, regarding it uneasily as Cade carried it over to the truck. He swung back and brought it down onto the front of the truck. Tessa jumped at the sound of metal on metal with a hiss of "Jesus!"

Cade stood back up and gave her a look of vindication. "Would an alien killing machine let me do that? Look, I'll make the call, we'll get the money. Just first let me see if I'm _right_ ," he explained, looking back and forth at Lucas and Tessa.

He tried to ignore the low growl emanating from Lia's throat. "You want to hide in the house?" he offered Tessa, sensing her anxiety.

Tessa nodded quickly, a whispered "Yeah" answering his question, if he even heard it at all.

"Go ahead."

Tessa continued to nod. "Okay." She turned away abruptly and walked briskly away. She didn't want to be around for what was going to happen, whatever it was.

Cade dismissed her exit and faced Lucas, who had been standing around doing nothing. "Let's go. Pulley arm."

Lia, having nothing much to do at the moment, debated whether or not to follow Tessa. A moment of contemplation produced a conclusion of "probably", going against the part of her brain telling her to stay in the barn, and followed Tessa's invisible tracks.

Lia paused in front of the barn door, amazed that Tessa was already at the porch, and in just a second, through the front door. Lia looked back inside the barn momentarily before resuming her promenade, hoping to simply hang out with Tessa and wait until something interesting happened.

The young woman found she wouldn't have to wait at all as yelling suddenly erupted from the barn. Before she could blink, a blur barreled through the gates of the barn and through the doors of the house.

Well, to her, it wasn't a blur at all. She could tell-even before it landed, if it ever did-that it was a missile. Gasping, she dashed after it, hoping it didn't suddenly blow up the house, along with Tessa and Unity.

"Tessa!"

She could hear Tessa's screeching from far away, and for a split second, she was grateful she wasn't right next to the panicking teenager. Her eardrums had gone through torture less than half an hour ago.

Her left foot had barely landed on the first step on the porch when the missile shot back out of the house, not even a half a foot away from her face. It traveled in a straight line until it wedged itself between a couple of branches in a not-so-far-off tree.

" _That_ -" Lia breathed, "-was close." Once she reached the tree, she found that the missile was still live. As she reached up to try to dispose of it before any of her friends did, a violent roaring, so loud she could (quite literally) _feel_ it, reached her sore ears.

" **I** **'** **LL** _ **KILL**_ **YOU!"**

Her eyes bulged, her mind jumped to the worst conclusion, and she froze. Her lips barely moved as she uttered a quick phrase.

" _Oh crap."_

Lia had _changed_ -God she had to find a better word for that- before she got to the entrance of the barn. She found herself witnessing the possible destruction of Lucas, and even worse, Cade.

The truck was gone, and in its place was the Transformer they had suspected it to be. When it wasn't writhing on the floor, it was threatening the two humans in its sight. And those two humans were on separate spots on the floor, curled up and protecting their heads.

The Transformer was laying on the ground, trying desperately to get up. Lia knew enough to figure out that "it" was really a "he", and as he reached behind his back to grab something, presumably a weapon, his eyes met hers.

As weak as he appeared, his eyes still shone with a bright glow. Lia stared into his maya blue with her absinthe, but his shock and confusion was soon replaced with...Well... _still_ shock and confusion, but with a "hint" of rage.

It seemed like he would rather calm down, but he was too busy ensuring his safety to try. He completed the action of bringing out whatever it was from behind his back, as a bright blue spark shot from his chest, and slammed it down onto the floor.

A gun.

Lia heard Tessa coming from a mile away, (actually, more like several yards away, but whatever), and let her disguise come over her. She wanted to protect them, but wasn't ready to reveal herself.

Especially after she found out the two people she cared for more than anyone else could _easily_ give her up for a reward. Or so she thought, at least.

Tessa didn't see anyone but same old Lia as she ran in. "Dad, there's a missile in-!" She caught sight of the giant in the barn and skidded. "Dad!" Lia caught her. Cade got up and ran toward them, wrapping them in his arms for a moment before standing in front of them, holding his hand out.

 _He_ -the Transformer- _finally_ managed to get up, though he was spinning in circles in order to maintain his balance. When he finally came to a standstill, he raised his gun, his _giant_ gun, and aimed it straight at them.

"I'll **KILL YOU!** Stay back!" As threatening as he sounded, he now seemed hesitant to aim his gun at the humans. Especially Lia, who, for repetition's sake, wasn't human.

Cade shook his hand, trying to convince him not to blast them to bits. "Oh no! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Lia hung back, but was ready to stand between them if necessary.

Her brown eyes quickly shot down to realize Lucas was still under the large alien, and almost, _almost_ worried. "Meh, it's not worth it," she whispered. But _that_ was when he decided to get up.

Lia couldn't tell if he had fallen on his head at some point when she wasn't paying attention, or if he was just plain stupid.

He sat up, bug-eyed. "Call nine, one, one! Run!" And he made a break for it.

Yeah, he was probably just stupid.

A short warning from Cade; a growl from the big guy.

"Lucas!"

"STOP!"

Then the swinging of the gun.

That was all it took to bring Lucas down.

Well, considering that the "gun" was the size of a cannon, it probably wasn't _that_ easy. But then Lia remembered that a football had accomplished the same feat only yesterday.

Lucas landed all floppy-like, and an emptied shell crashed next to him, bouncing over him onto the other side. A bright red circle had already formed on his forehead, and he reached up to touch it in an attempt to relieve his pain somehow.

Cade held up his hand, signaling Lucas to stop. Not like Lucas could see it, since his eyes were shut tight in pain. "Lucas?" he called tentatively. "Don't move, just calm down."

"As in chill," Lia "translated", having picked up that term from Lucas himself. He (sort of) stood up as the robot's insanely deep voice broke out again, only in a much more clear and calm manner. Not in a wild battle cry.

"Easy, human." His electric blue eyes wandered to meet Lia's, and she stared back with a single eyebrow raised. No one had seen her when she first came in. No one but him.

Cade stepped forward cautiously. "Stay there. He's not gonna hurt us."

Lia scoffed. "Then why are you scared?"

Cade seemed to forget what was currently happening, stopping simply to defend his pride. "I am n-" Lia only looked at him smugly and glanced up to get him to refocus. He huffed and turned back around, arms slightly spread out to display he meant no harm.

"Weapons systems damaged!" choked the Transformer, taking a few steps to keep from falling over.

"A missile hit your engine." The beginning of Cade's explanation. "And we took it out of you. You're hurt really bad." The giant's metal foot suddenly emitted sparks.

"I'm pretty sure he already knows that," Lia threw in, getting a sharp poke from Tessa. "What? Listen to the guy…" At that moment another grunt of pain left Optimus' mouth. Lia felt her insides twist and coil as pity continued to gnaw at her.

"I'm just trying to help you." Cade had to crane his neck higher and higher the closer he got to the unexpected visitor. "You're in my home now. I'm an engineer. My name is Cade Yeager."

"Cade…" The extraterrestrial seemingly wiped his nose. Why he did it, Lia couldn't tell. "I, am in your debt."

Lia threw her hands up. "Oh, great. Yeah. Give _him_ all the credit. Not like he was too broke to even bring you home. He didn't ask me for a loan or anything, nah." She waved her left hand. "Not at all." She crossed her arms, but a smile still graced her face.

Cade gave her an almost dirty look, but the... _being_...in front of him, just regarded her with a little less weariness. " _You_ , as well then..." He waited, looking almost anxious.

"Lia," she stated, sensing his confusion. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for his name.

He took support from a couple of the large poles supporting the roof of the barn, leaning against them before saying anything.

He looked dejected. If it weren't for the fact that Lia had never seen him in her life, she might have believed that he was disappointed because she didn't recognize him.

"My name, is Optimus Prime." His slightly improved mood regressed, unfortunately, back into one of exhaustion, and the pain returned to his face. "My Autobots, they're in danger!"

He doubled over without warning, falling to his knees in apparent pain. Lia felt Tessa tighten her grip on her shoulders, realizing only until then that Tessa had been holding them the entire time.

They watched the side of Optimus' head fall off completely and land on the floor harshly. "I need to go. I need to go now." Optimus rubbed his forehead, a neon green liquid spurting from his open wound. Lia's eye twitched. Tessa flinched.

Cade looked from Optimus, to the part of his head on the floor, to the green puddle, then back up at Optimus. "How far you think you're gonna get?" Lia pouted on seeing Optimus clutch his stomach.

Cade turned around and glanced at Lia before turning around. "Lia, come on, he needs our help." Lia walked up beside him when he motioned her over. Tessa, not wanting to be left alone or too far, followed, but didn't come as close.

The inner corners of Lia's eyebrows turned up as a sign of concern. "Who did this to you? What happened?"

Optimus shifted slightly to the left. "An ambush. A trap." He raised his knee and set his hand on it, so he was no longer on all fours. "Set by humans."

His rumbling coughing hid Lia's growling, but the scowl on her face remained as obvious as ever. He was hunched over in pain, but he made the effort to look straight at them. He made it a point to watch Lia closely.

"I escaped and took this form." Optimus coughed a few more times, clouds of dust slipping past his lips and disappearing into the air.

Lia was surprised to hear Tessa speak up. "But you're on our side." Her voice was shaky, but it was probably just a side effect of having her nerves extremely rattled, and not a result of feeling intimidated. "Why would humans hurt you?"

Lia was willing to bet that the battle in Chicago got humans into a Transformer-terminating/trapping frenzy. Especially when the rumor got out that the government was giving out cash rewards if you caught one.

"They were not alone," he vaguely replied, but showed no sign of enlightening them with additional information. He began to stand. "My Autobots-" He once again used the poles to facilitate his movement. "-can-" He held a large hand to his stomach. "-repair me."

"Yeah," Cade agreed, trying to understand all the new information he was receiving. "If you can reach 'em."

Lia took a few silent steps forward, picking up the hefty piece of metal that was the side of Optimus' head with ease. She looked up at him expectantly, but he expressed nothing but curiosity. "Well...What about us?"

 **. . .**

"Go to the hardware store and you get the list. The whole list…"

Cade's words faded the further he got from the barn. Lia, being who she was, could of course still hear them, laughing a little at hearing Lucas' comment about Optimus eating Cade.

Then they got to a distance where the words started to become a little muffled. When they passed that distance, she stopped trying to listen in and sat down on a small stepping stool, trying to avoid Optimus' intense gaze.

Tessa had gone back into the house, trying to sort out her thoughts. Lucas and Cade had left the barn (obviously) to discuss the plan for fetching the supplies required to begin to even remotely repair Optimus.

Unfortunately, Lia had been instructed to stay and "keep watch", and when she looked into Optimus' eyes, it felt like he was staring into her soul. If she had a soul at all.

"Can you even _eat_ people?" she asked him, trying to make a joke out of Lucas' choice of words. It was no use trying to hide her secret. He had seen her, so she might as well try to start off on the right foot.

Optimus blinked, not expecting the question or knowing how to answer. He didn't "joke around" (ever). He was the leader of his team. He had enough trouble keeping his friends under control and in focus, why add himself to the equation?

"I've, never tried..."

Lia burst out laughing at his simple answer, not expecting it from someone like him. Then again, did she even know him? She felt like she had at some point.

It didn't matter. She went on to slap her thigh and clap her hands together like a sea lion that didn't know when to give up.

Optimus felt a small sense of satisfaction, but had no idea why. A thought emerged in his head that Lia, whether she remembered him or not, was going to be interesting to be around.

"Lia, hand me a bee-" Cade slowed his jogging until he came to a complete stop.

Lia felt caught, even though she knew she had done nothing wrong. Not truly. Her laughter bubbled up again, just as it was receding, when she saw the way Optimus straightened up and took on a serious look again.

"Isn't that Butler-Bot's job?" she jeered, looking around to see if the trash can was near.

Cade felt awkward. He _knew_ he had interrupted something. He shook his head, heading toward the mini fridge himself. "Uh, I'll just get it myself." He avoided looking straight into anyone's eyes.

Lia smirked, and let out a _"Pfft!"_ for an unknown reason when she caught Optimus' eye. She was quick to cover her mouth, though. "Okay, let's get to work!" she announced, but quieted when Cade gave her an odd look.

And get to work they did. After about an hour of working, Cade broke the silence as he looked up from hammering _whatever it was_ he was hammering. (Lia never focused on what it was that Cade worked on. She was more of the "set everything up" type of assistant).

"Took a hell of a hit, you know," he told Optimus as he walked toward him. "Missile just missed your power source." He began to climb a ladder, his dark gray tank top drenched with sweat after working with fire for quite some time.

"Power source?" Lia asked, voicing her curiosity. Optimus watched her, understanding her want to know about his "power source".

Optimus looked down at his chest, at the glowing, pulsing blue light embedded deep within it. "We call it a Spark," he informed them, placing his hand near it. "It contains our life force, and, our memories." Lia noted how he sounded solemn, but wasn't sure if that was just how he spoke.

Cade took a seat on a step of the ladder, and tilted his head up. "Yeah, we call it a soul."

Lia blinked, her mouth slightly open. She wanted to ask Optimus something, but she couldn't say anything out of the ordinary with Cade in the barn.

As if on cue, Cade clambered down from the ladder, having grown weary from all the work. He shuffled over to Lia, wiping his dirty hands on a rag all the while.

"Where you goin'?" Lia quietly asked, left eyebrow raised.

"Bathroom break," he whispered, and Lia resisted the urge to laugh. An idea had formed in her head that Optimus could probably hear just as well, if not better, than her. She nodded quickly, a tight smile on her face as he walked out.

As soon as she was positive Cade was out of hearing range, she giggled. She looked up at Optimus, who was shaking his head and looking down at her.

Lia stopped her fit of laughter, but her smile stayed. "So you _did_ hear 'im." Optimus offered no response. Lia let the humor fade as she stared at the pale blue light in Optimus' chest; his Spark. His _soul_.

"Curious, as always," the giant remarked.

Now _that_ threw Lia off. What exactly did _that_ mean? They'd _just_ met. He couldn't truly know anything special about her yet. Other than the fact that she was an alien robot. She gazed up at the large robotic man, her stare borderline _suspicious_.

"Have we... _met_?"

It was Optimus' turn to be thrown off. At first his expression was unreadable, but then it seemed to Lia that a flash of hope glimmered in his eyes. "Do I seem familiar to you?"

Lia pondered the question over and over in her head. Did he? Nothing about the way he looked stood out to Lia when she first saw him, or now that she spent quite some time with him. And yet…

Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her, but there did seem to be a familiar air about Optimus. Not exactly recognizable, but enough to let Lia feel somewhat comfortable in his presence.

"I mean, you don't _look_ familiar," Lia confessed. Optimus' solemn countenance returned. "But you...You kinda _feel_ familiar, you know? Get what I'm saying?"

Optimus nodded once, that glint of hope coming back. He wasn't _too_ reassured, but "kinda" was much better than "not really" in this situation. The Autobot decided to put this "kinda" to the test.

"Lia." His tone was of utmost seriousness, as if it ever wasn't. He waited until the girl looked straight at him before continuing. "What comes to mind when you hear the name 'Samantha'?"

 _What?_

The question was simple enough, yet Lia was confused out of her mind. She _understood_ what was being asked of her, but she wanted to know why. Optimus looked so...stony, however, that she doubted he would bother elaborating.

"Samantha…" Lia scratched her cheek. "Samantha...Hmm…" Her eyes widened. "I have a friend named Samantha!" she announced, sticking her index finger in the air.

It quickly came down, though, for Lia could see that as much as he was trying to hide it, disappointment was pooling in Optimus' eyes. "Okay, lemme think s' more."

Lia scoured through any and all information she had on "Samantha", but somehow she knew none of it was what Optimus wanted.

She was still going through all of her memories when Optimus surprised her with another question. "Now what comes to mind when you hear 'Sam'?"

 _ **What!?**_

Confused didn't cut it to describe how she felt. No, she was perplexed. He had already asked about 'Samantha' and turned up nothing. How could 'Sam' be any better?

Lia wasn't about to complain, as it seemed whatever she answered could either make or break the Autobot. "Uh... _just_ Sam? No other…?"

Optimus blinked. "If you must, try Samuel."

Lia nodded, not entirely aided by his terse answer. A couple minutes of internal chaos turned up nothing. She had used almost all of her own resources, not believing looking something up on the Internet would do her any good. What Optimus was asking for, he expected _her_ to know.

She was withdrawing from her memories to give Optimus the bad news when two voices sounded out of nowhere. One male, one female. The female voice sounded much like her own, but she couldn't recognize the second, much less identify it.

" _...is gonna give me a lift. Thanks, though."_

" _Him? Sam Weird-name-y?"_

" _It's **Witwicky** , Tr…"_

Lia came out of her subconscious in a daze and almost fell forward. She caught herself in time, but still felt slightly dizzy. Optimus started to reach for her but she managed to steady herself.

"What the hell…" Optimus raised an eyebrow at her. Lia's brown eyes were wide with confusion. "Optimus! I got...I got a name." Optimus waited. She cleared her throat. "Sam...W...Wick...Wit-Witwicky! Sam Witwicky," she restated. "Is that what you were lookin' for?" Her voice was low.

The question was unnecessary. Optimus' eyes said it all.

Lia was quiet for a few moments, but smiled. Before they could discuss the "issue" any further, she heard Cade coming closer to the barn. Optimus must have heard him as well, since he once again straightened out and turned slightly away from her.

The crunching of Cade's footsteps turned into echoing pats as his shoes transferred from the grass to the smooth floor of the barn. He wordlessly got back to work, sparing them an interrogation.

 **. . .**

In the next hour, Optimus spent his time plucking bullets from his body, half of them being pointed out by Lia. Just as she finished helping Cade with the blowtorch and the tank of gas, she spotted another one buried in the metal of his chest.

Optimus followed her gaze and began to wrench the bullet free. His size and strength greatly facilitated the process. He gave the bullet a couple of twists before giving it a small tug, freeing the small cylinder.

His held it in the tips of his thumb and forefinger, seeming to be deep in thought. "Cade." He stared at the bullet for a second before flicking it away. "Why are _you_ willing to help me?" He gazed at Cade intently, then he blinked.

"I guess maybe because you trust me to," Cade answered, and fired up the blowtorch.

"Great answer," Lia muttered.

 **. . .**

Thirty minutes later, the familiar rumble of Lucas' Mini Cooper approached the lawn. Both Optimus and Lia flicked their heads up, hearing it before anyone else. Even before Tessa, who was out on the porch, seated in a wooden yellow chair.

The car eventually stopped and was shut off, and a slam preceded a boisterous shout. _"I'm back!"_

" _Took you long enough!"_ they heard Tessa call back.

" _My head hurts, I had to go to the doctor. I got a welt on my head that makes me look like a freaking Star Trek character."_

Inside the barn, Optimus watched Lia's shoulders shake in the slightest as she silenced her laughter. She held her hands up to her face, and leaving only her bright eyes exposed. Optimus' right eyebrow quirked in bemusement.

Minutes went by, Cade spent them shaping up Optimus, and Lia spent them trying not to laugh. There came a moment though, that Optimus tilted his head, and shifted.

Lia wondered what was causing him to do that, when she heard it. The sound of something whipping through air. Unsettled, she looked over to Optimus for an answer of some kind. He only gave her a short, but firm, glance.

She nodded just before he looked away and got up. Silently, she left the barn, the gentle sound of wind chimes stirring the air.

Knowing now that something was coming, she ran toward the porch and rushed up to Tessa. Lia found the girl already looking off into the distance, her pencil still pressed down onto her homework.

Once Lia got there, Tessa put down the pencil and looked up at Lia uneasily. "Lia?"

Lia took on the role of big sister and held Tessa's shoulders. "Tessa, if anything out of the ordinary happens-"

"Besides having a giant alien in the barn?"

Lia rolled her eyes. "Tessa, I'm serious. Listen, I've got a weird feeling-"

Just then, three SUV's entered their line of sight. They sped along the dirt road, and Tessa stood up, almost Lia's height. She took slow steps toward the fence on the edge of the porch and leaned on it, trying to get as good a look as possible.

When she was positive that they were indeed approaching their home, she took a step to the side and faced the barn, calling out. "Dad!"

Lia shook her by the shoulder. "Don't call him that!" she hissed.

Tessa pulled away. "What? Dad?"

Lia nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

Lia sighed. "Just don't. Alright?" Tessa nodded, a perplexed expression on her face. "Promise."

Tessa noted how that hadn't been a question. "Yeah, totally."

 **. . .**

 **Was this chapter confusing? Maybe. And yeah, there** _ **is**_ **something Optimus knows that Lia doesn't. What** _ **is**_ **it, exactly? Uh, I'm not sure. Still figurin' it out myself!**

 **Aside from that, there's not much else I can say other than ask you for to read and review. I hope I'm actually doing well with this story. This is my first and really don't know what to expect.**

 **I'm still kinda sick, and unfortunately school starts back up again tom-actually, today, since I'm writing this at 3 am. Goodness, I'm irresponsible. Anyway, now since school's back I assume I'll have less time to write and get chapters out, but hopefully I can keep it under control.**

 **I want to thank HeroMadero, bandros111, and Lizzybug2000 for reviewing. It means _a lot_. (Heh, that also reminds me of DJ Khaled) Please R &R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ooooookaaaay. Yes, I'm late. At least I think I'm late. But in my defense, I warned ya that it would happen eventually. And, I also** _ **actually**_ **wrote a separate chapter before I wrote this one. Well, I** _ **started**_ **to write it, but then I realized that I didn't want to "reveal" some stuff, just yet.**

 **I honestly hate this chapter, I don't believe it was the best I could do, but I was facing some writer's block as well, sooo...This was the sh*t I produced. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, and it won't be this crappy.**

 **...So, disclaimer: I don't own AOE, and I'm glad I don't. That movie got a lotta hate, didn't it?**

 **. . .**

The black vehicles were of no worry as soon as Lia heard the _helicopter_. Just the sound of the blades whipping through the air made her stomach churn. Lia paced back and forth across the porch, muttering to herself.

Tessa wound her blonde strands tightly around her finger, biting her lip, and Lia's pacing was making her even more restless. "Lia, will you just sit down?" she complained, her voice tight.

With a short groan, Lia plopped herself in the seat Tessa had been sitting in. For a few seconds, she just sat there, feet and fingers tapping anxiously. "Summin's not right," she finally said, realizing she had been chewing on Tessa's pencil.

"Oh, like things were just great _before_?"

Lia ran both hands through her hair before standing up. The chair toppled over, but Lia paid it no mind as she marched toward Tessa and grabbed the teen's elbow.

"Hey-What the-!?" Tessa tried to yank her arm away. "What are you doing?"

Lia stomped toward the door, swung it open, and dragged Tessa inside. " _You,_ stay in here." She pointed down at the floor. "You can come out as soon as things look okay, but not until you're _positive_."

"But wh-"

"Just _do it_ , alright?" Tessa crossed her arms, frowning. "Damn it, Tessa, I don't have the patience for this!" Lia's voice rose in pitch. "Don't get near the windows, don't make a sound, and don't let anyone see you. _Anyone_."

Tessa didn't answer, but let her arms fall to her side. The older girl sighed. "Good. Now go upstairs."

Tessa pressed her lips together. "Can't I just stay down here?"

"Can't ya just listen for once?" Lia retorted, jabbing a finger at Tessa.

Letting out a huff and rolling her eyes, Tessa finally did as asked. "And watch Unity for me, will ya!?" Lia added loudly. She only received the slamming of a door in response.

Lia slipped out, shut the door, and stepped back out onto the porch. Cade and Lucas were jogging out of the barn, and though she had a strong urge to ask them what they had done with Optimus, she didn't dare speak of him.

Not with all the cars pulling up.

Not with the helicopter watching their every move from above like a hawk.

Not with the possibility, as small as it was, that whoever was in there could potentially hear even the tiniest fragment of her question.

Large clouds of dust formed behind the numerous vehicles, making them difficult to count. Lia counted six, not including the other cars parked on the outskirts of the field.

They mowed over the grass and stopped very close to the house, and even closer to Cade, who had walked up in front of them to guard his property. The doors of the first, the one nearest to Cade, opened.

Two men stepped out on the left side, the man in front wearing reflective sunglasses, and sporting a black trench coat. The other man was wearing a black jacket, with his black shirt tucked into his equally dark pants.

The first man, the one with gray hair, approached Cade. The second, taller one, started heading for the porch. Lia scowled and took a step back, and glancing around, she noticed Lucas hiding behind a tree.

"That _definitely_ won't make us look suspicious," she wanted to say. Of course, she didn't.

When the first stood in front of Cade, a helicopter flew overhead. The sight of the black helicopter sent a shiver of warning down Lia's spine. _Why?_ She had no idea. She had seen plenty of choppers before, but this one was...different.

"Mr. Yeager, my name's James Savoy." He introduced himself with honeyed words but a gruff tone. "I'm a federal agent. My men and I are trying to track down a…" He looked over Cade's shoulder. "Abandoned truck."

He finished with a smile. A false smile. Faker than reality shows.

"That would be _'an'_ abandoned truck, mister!" Lia frustratedly corrected. "Not _'a'_ abandoned truck!"

The second agent reached the porch, walking up the steps. Cade glanced at him uneasily, the concern evident in his features. Lia made sure to stand _behind_ a chair, putting it between the agent and herself.

Savoy's small grunt was the only indication that he had even _heard_ Lia. "It's a nice spread you got here." He used his compliment as an excuse to take an even longer look over the open field. He was obviously looking for something, but Lia had a hunch that it wasn't _just_ a truck. Not exactly. "Too bad she's for sale."

"Well thanks. She's not," Cade answered, trying not to let his agitation show. He pointed at his own C-10. "That the truck you mean?" he suggested, slipping on his jacket. Lia had to give him some credit there. Playing dumb. Pretty good plan. Though not good enough.

James barely shook his head. " 'Fraid not." He was quiet for a while. "You know, Mr. Yeager, we received a call from someone concerned about this truck.

Lia heard a faint "Oh no" coming from behind the tree. From _Lucas_.

"That wasn't you?" James asked, knowing well that Cade hadn't been the caller.

Cade squinted at him with his head turned almost completely to the right, since James had taken several steps forward. "Only thing I'm concerned about is you bein' on my property without permission." James huffed humorlessly.

"You know, we got a rule about people messin' with people from Texas." Lia visibly winced at how badly Cade had phrased that. Cade rotated to the right and took a couple steps toward his uninvited guest. "And I don't know what truck you're talkin' about."

James bit his lip, and Lia hoped that a fight wouldn't break out. "The kind that cost American lives," James growled, whirling to face Cade. He looked away. "Search the property!"

Savoy's men scattered like roaches in sudden light.

"What do you mean, 'search the property'?" Cade demanded. "You don't have a warrant!"

James pointed at his shiny face, oily or sweaty, whatever. "My _face_ , is my warrant."

Lia clenched her fists. "Hey, man, screw you!"

James looked over Cade's shoulder; at _her_. Even though he was wearing reflective sunglasses, Lia could tell he was glaring. She didn't step off the porch, wanting to stay near Tessa's shelter more than she wished to blast the guy's brains out.

"You can't just appear outta nowhere, dressed up like one o' the Pet Shop Boys, and just poke you parrot nose into business that isn't yours! What kinda asshole are you? The biggest!?"

James didn't seem to be paying full attention to what she was saying. Instead, he had a finger on his ear, and for the first time, Lia realized he had an earpiece. How had she not seen it sooner?

Savoy was mumbling, thinking none of the people present could hear him. The one exception listened in, and listened hard.

"No records...Nothing at all?" The voice that answered was more difficult to hear. It was too quiet. "I see…" James glanced at Lia. "I'll see what I can find." He lowered his finger and called out to Lia. "Hey! Hey, you!" Lia stood at attention. "What's your name?"

Cade stood in front of him. "H-Hey, she doesn't have to tell you anything," he defended in a hushed tone.

James jutted his chin out. "Either you tell me right now, or I'll have to take it up with her. Personally."

Cade pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Her name's Lia, alright?"

"Lia _what_?"

"Lia...Lane…"

Savoy didn't seem convinced, and watched Lia being swarmed by drones for a moment. Not being able to bat them all away, Lia glared right back.

Her murderous glare morphed into a quizzical one upon hearing what _the voice_ had to say about her. With everyone now scattered across the lawn, _away_ from Savoy, _hearing_ the voice had been facilitated.

" _Closest match we've got is some 'Samantha' character, but she disappeared ten years ago, and this 'Lia' doesn't seem much older than her."_

"You positive?" James persited. " 'Cause she's not in the system."

"Well, your system must be broken," Cade retaliated, not bothering to ask him what exactly that _system_ was. Or why they were looking for her.

"Age?"

"Huh?"

" _ **Age**_? As in, how _old_ she is," he drawled, as if he needed to speak more slowly because he thought Cade was stupid.

Cade didn't answer the question. "I don't have to tell you anything else." He tried to change the subject. "Wait, what do you mean, she's not in the system?"

James kept his cold face, and kept silent as he watched his team infest Cade's property. It didn't seem he would try to stop them soon.

The invaders were running amok, aiming their guns straight ahead. Some of them headed in Lucas' general direction, and he jogged backwards before hunkering down. "Wait. But if you guys _do_ find a truck we get a reward, right?"

The helicopter noisily made its way across the sky again. The team went on to release several, small drones into the air. Lia thought of them as mini helicopters. _Or_ giant flies, with the wings, and, the buzzing…

Around five people broke into the barn, and Lia couldn't even fathom how they would react to the Guard-Dawg. But when the thought of them finding Optimus popped into her head, Lia bit her lip.

Her eyes swept across the once-quiet lawn forlornly. She actually missed the peace and quiet. Now all the could hear was the constant buzzing of those damn drones, or the crunch of footsteps across the grass as the 'agents' scouted the area.

Out of nowhere, one sound in particular stood out to her among the others.

The faint sound of a car engine.

 _That_ confused her. All the vehicles she could see were parked, if not shut off. She was so surprised by the sound that she wasn't even sure if she had heard it at all.

Her eyes rolled to the left, but her head stayed in place. She didn't want to draw attention to whatever she had heard. She spotted a speck of white in the distance, obscured by the tall grass.

"No way," she whispered, not able to contain her shock. "Did Tessa…?" The man on the porch with her was only seeing her lips move. He heard almost no sound. Suddenly, the men started to pool out of the barn.

"There's no signs," one of them said. "We got nothin'." Lia tried not to relax too much, or too visibly.

"There is no way that we're off the hook _that_ easily," she breathed. "There has to be a catch. There's _always_ a catch." She spotted someone signal to his team and point into an old trash can.

"Sir, we've got a live, armed missile in the trash."

" _Aaand_ there it is." _That_ she said aloud. The man beside her didn't understand what she was talking about.

Unlike James, Cade and Lucas snapped their heads to the side to see what had been found. And unlike Lucas, Cade and Lia kept their mouths shut.

"Live? I carried that to the trash! You told me that was a dud, dude!" Lucas sounded betrayed, as he always did. He looked around nervously at all the staring eyes. "I could be dead. Right?"

Cade was running out of options, and finally spoke. "Look. Okay, yes, I found a truck, alright? I towed it back for the parts. I left it here last night. This morning, it's gone."

He swiveled his head around, trying to emphasize his false confusion. "When? Where? I don't know. I swear to God. That's as much as I know about 'im!" He threw his arms up and started to walk away, toward the porch.

Lia's eyes widened. And out came the phrase. "Oh crap." There was no way they'd miss that. He'd said 'him' for goodness' sake!

And then she heard it. The voice transmitting through James' earpiece was louder this time. _"He said, '_ _ **Him**_ _'. He_ _ **knows**_ _who the son of a bitch is!"_

James turned and followed behind Cade. "Mr. Yeager," he coolly began.

Cade whipped around impatiently. "What?"

"Excuse me." James finally removed his glasses, revealing his cold, gray blue eyes. "You just said 'him'." Cade stared at the intruder, his chest heaving in a quickening pace. "Take 'em down!"

"What?"

Lia felt two heavy hands grasp her shoulders, yanking her backwards. "What the f-!?"

A man grabbed Cade by the arm, and he looked at James angrily. "They don't know about the truck! _I_ know!" He snapped his head around in a dangerously quick motion to glare at the giant grabbing Lia. "Just let her go!"

"What kind of a man betrays his flesh-and-blood brethren for alien metal?" James asked with an almost disgusted tone. He looked at the man holding Cade. "Get this guy out of my sight."

"Let her go!" Cade shouted as he was pulled back. "They don't know about the truck!"

James was unfazed. "Alright! Load up! Search the perimeter!"

"Let me go, asshole!" Lia shrieked, tugging against her captor. She knew it was useless. As long as she stayed in her human body, she wouldn't be strong enough to get away. She saw Lucas was holding his hands behind his back. "I know you _called_ , Lucas!"

"No!" His tremulous tone revealed his true feelings. "I don't know any of these scary guys!"

"Don't play stupid, stupid! Yer guilty as shit!"

Cade, being harder to hold, had multiple men chasing him. He slapped their arms away and dashed in Lia's direction. "Let her go!" Someone pushed him, and Cade did an involuntary somersault before crashing into the ground.

"Cade!" Lia punched and kicked, but she could squirm out of his grasp. "Let me go!" Her hair was pulled, and a vicious pain shot through her head. She dug her nails into the man's hand until he untangled his fingers from her short strands.

"You're not going anywhere!" the men shouted at Cade, pinning him down.

Lia's heart missed a beat as a ringing voice shouted out from inside the house.

" _Daddy!"_ A nod and hand signal later, a man was already barging through the door.

"They're going for Tessa!" Lia frantically warned.

Amidst the chaos, Lucas was taken a hold of by two men. "No! You're not taking me anywhere!" he protested, grunting. "I'm an American!" He was tackled and his face was buried into the earth.

"Easy, sweetheart," one of his captors taunted.

Lucas was quick to let up. "Okay, okay, okay. Alright. Okay. Alright. I was wrong."

Lia tried to block out all sounds as the same voice from before poured out from James' earpiece. _"Savoy. Use the girl."_

"Girl?"

Surely he didn't mean _her_. But Tessa still hadn't been brought out. Had she even been captured? Even if she had, she wasn't out there. Cade couldn't be guilt tripped or-

"Holy sh-!" Lia was suddenly picked up, feeling like holes were being bored into her side due to being held so tightly. Before words could leave her mouth, she was smacked down against the steps of the porch, and the back of her head suddenly felt very warm.

She told herself her vision became blurred due to the impact on her head, and not the tears threatening to spill. She dared to reach behind her head, and a warm substance coated her fingers.

She pulled her hand away and brought it close to her face, only seeing a blurry red smudge. Blinking back her tears, her vision cleared up enough for her to make out the shape of her hand. It looked like she was wearing a glossy red glove.

Ah, crap.

She heard a click, and tilted her head to the left, trying hard to ignore the pain it caused, and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

She looked away from it with a smirk she couldn't form; her head hurt too much. A gun couldn't kill her. Especially not one like the one in being shoved in her face. Noticing James was holding a gun to Cade's head as well, her confidence came crumbling down.

"Now, you got ten seconds," he threatened. "Where's the truck?"

Cade glanced at Lia. "What? You're just gonna shoot her!?"

"If I have to," James answered coolly.

Just then, two people burst through the front doors of the house. One of them was Tessa, with her arms held behind her back by one of Savoy's men.

She looked like she was about to break down, and froze when she saw Lia laying on the steps, blood pooling out from beneath her head before her very own eyes.

"Lia!" She lunged forward, but was held fast in her place. "Please! Don't shoot her, please!"

Cade tried to get up to help Lia as well, but he was under too much weight. "Look, I don't know! I told you everything that I know! He was in the barn. He's gone. He left. He was in the barn, I swear to God! Just let her go!"

Tessa could do nothing but watch as the gun was brought closer to Lia's head. "Lia! Get up! Get up!"

"He was in there!" Cade shouted, red-faced. "Let her _go_!"

"Seven seconds," James warned. Lia couldn't even think about laughing, or correcting him. Whether he would have her or Cade shot first was something she did and didn't want to know.

"I'm telling you the truth!" Cade persisted. "He was in there!"

Tessa let out a sob. "Dad! Do something!" She resorted to clawing at the arms holding her, but it was difficult, not to mention painful, to do so in her position.

"Tell him to get away from her, now!" he yelled at Savoy, who didn't move.

An overwhelming sense of defeat washed over Tessa, but she didn't want to give up. She kicked at the air, trying to knock the gun out of the man's hands, even though she knew it was out of reach.

The gun got closer to Lia's face, stopping when it bumped into her nose. The close proximity caused Tessa to panic. "Lia! Move!" She glared at the tall man holding the gun. "Don't do it! Don't shoot her!"

"You touch her and I'll kill you!" Cade threatened, knowing he wouldn't be taken seriously. James suddenly shot a bullet into the ground next to Cade's head.

"You got two seconds."

There was a moment of quiet, in which Lia heard the mystery voice utter a few words that sealed James' decision.

" _I need the truth."_

That seemed to be the order for James as he turned to the brunette standing above Lia and stated two words that sent shivers down Cade and Tessa's spines.

"Shoot her."

It was then that the man pressed the gun into Lia's forehead, moving it all the way to the right so her cheek almost touched the wooden step.

"Ow…" she mumbled, her injury making any movement quite agonizing. The gun was now positioned on her temple, and after a click registered in her mind, she was out.

 **. . .**

Optimus froze at hearing the gunshot. Being hidden under the barn, he couldn't tell exactly what was happening to who. The first shot had evidently hurt no one, but Cade and Tessa's reaction, including Lucas' gagging, clued him in on the results of the second.

" _ **LIA!"**_

" _NO! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"_

Optimus was surprised that even then, Cade refused to reveal his hiding place.

" _I told you already!"_ Cade shouted, his voice cracking. _"He was in the barn!"_

It crossed Optimus' mind to wonder whether the gunshot had actually killed Lia or not. Bumblebee would never forgive him for letting Lia get hurt, much less _killed_.

Lia was likely still alive, but he wasn't going to take the chance that Tessa would be the next victim.

" _Oh God, right in the-Dude, what the hell!"_

" _Daddy! She's bleeding!"_ Tessa was sobbing, and her knees were weak. _"There's so much blood! DA-AD!"_

" _What's wrong with you!?"_

" _Her eye-! Oh my god-"_ Tessa felt sick to her stomach, and covered her mouth. She wanted to look away, but instead just let her legs give out beneath her. _"LIA! Wake up!"_ She sniffled. _"Wake up…"_

James kneeled down, getting a glare from Cade. _"Now tell me where he is, before you lose someone else."_

Cade felt his rage expand as a gun was held to Tessa's head. She was too busy sobbing to notice. _"Now you're gonna shoot my little girl?"_

" _Answer the question, and things won't have to get uglier that they already are."_ James started to count down. _"You've got three, two, one…"_

Cade was torn, and his mind was too boggled to answer. Lie or not. Thankfully, Optimus decided to answer for him as he burst through the wall of the barn with a deafening explosion.

" **HERE I AM!"**

 **. . .**

Consciousness (and a whole lot of pain) stirred Lia as she slowly blinked open her eyes.

Or, more like her **eye**.

 _Well then._

She blinked open her **eye** , her right eye, and found it had decided to become ultra light sensitive. She reached up and rubbed it, groaning. Once her vision cleared up a little, she sat up and looked around.

And immediately remembered where she was.

" _Oh crap."_

She noticed Optimus had come out of hiding and was shooting down Savoy's team, and that Cade, Tessa, and Lucas were running away from the chaos. She was glad to see they were running toward what she presumed was Shane's car.

She looked down at where her head had been, and saw what she guessed was possibly a crumb of _brain_ mixed in with the small puddle of blood.

" _Oh crap."_

Once she stood up, she realized her sense of balance was almost nonexistent at that point. Teetering in one direction then veering off in another, she held what was left of her head in her hands, hissing in pain.

Hearing that damned _voice_ again, she attempted to ignore her immense pain and stared at Savoy.

He was listening to the voice from his earpiece, shielding himself behind a car door. He was probably the only person that didn't looked shocked or disgusted. Lia caught a few last sentences before he climbed into the car and drove off.

" _Get her, whatever she is. Get._ _ **It**_ _. That thing's definitely not human,_ _ **or**_ _a Transformer. Something Joshua will be very interested in. Something he'll be willing to pay lots of money for."_

Lia tried to swat at the drones buzzing around her without falling over. She could barely stand straight, her vision was impaired, and just moving an inch made pain explode in her head.

If she remained in that body, she'd surely be overpowered. It seemed a stampede of people were rushing toward her, and she knew there wasn't really any other option. She had to…...She looked up a different word online.

 _Transform, change, alter, convert, transfigure…_

"Transfigure? Transmutate?" She juggled the two words around, not being able to settle on one. "Whatever." She hissed, experiencing a sharp spike of pain.

The glowing green circle appeared above her, did its thing, and she appeared in a different spot, a few feet away. Her head was complete now, and she had grown seven inches from her usual height to reach a full six feet.

Bullets began to clang against her, only to bounce right off. Just as she prepared to attack, she remembered something important that was still in the house. That white ball of fur that she cherished so dearly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted several small dots in the distance, zipping through the air. They were similar in shape to the one she had seen only hours ago, the thing that had gotten stuck in a tree.

Missiles.

"No!" She turned around but raised her arms in front of her face as one missile struck the truck, and the others struck the house. With a blast loud enough to render her deaf, it burst into flames, planks of burning wood raining down on her. _"UNITY!"_

She stood there with empty eyes, her sudden grief rendering her motionless. The dust engulfed her, the air she inhaled being filtered to prevent smoke from entering her body. The smell of fireworks still invaded her nose, however.

Lia probably would have stood there for much longer, but a series of blasts behind her snapped her out of it. She spun around, finding the blasts were coming from a helicopter that was shooting at Optimus.

"Unity..." She focused on the 'soldiers running towards her, and she held out her hand, releasing a barrage of infrasonic waves. Almost instantly, everyone in front of her dropped, some holding their hands to their throats, others to their stomachs.

With one final glare from Lia as she increased the waves' power, they screamed once before going still. Realizing the others were getting away from her, Lia flew high into the sky. Her green eyes scanned the ground below in search of her human friends.

They hadn't gotten far, and she flew after them. Once airborne, she thought about how she would explain her "resurrection" to them. Or whether they would even want her around anymore. Or how she would deal with the death of her cat.

She tried to free herself of those thoughts as she neared the fleeing trio. Just as she was about to call out, a white Chevy Sonic sprung up and over the hill. The car glided over several unsuspecting agents, and a front tire smacked into one of them.

"Did he just punch that guy with his _car_?" Lia stopped flying in midair, and simply hovered there for a few moments. Through the windshield, Lia could make out Shane's familiar blonde hair, and his oddly apple red lips.

"Red as a rose," Lia muttered, shaking her head. "Might as well call him Sleeping Beauty from now on."

Shane raced around the small lake, (or was it a huge puddle?) and managed to pull up in front of Cade, Tessa, and Lucas. He leaned across the passenger seat and pushed open the door. "Come on! Hurry up! Get in the car! Let's g-"

Tessa didn't notice her boyfriend's strange behavior as she urged her father to get in the car. "Daddy, get in the car!"

Cade didn't let his bewilderment hinder his speed as he hurriedly took a seat in the front. Shane didn't move a muscle. "What? What are you waiting for, man!? Let's go!"

Shane was staring out Cade's window, and Cade followed his gaze to realize some _thing_ was watching them from a short distance.

Lucas' eyes doubled in size. "What the _hell_ is that!?" Tessa leaned across Lucas to get a glimpse of whatever was making the guys balk.

"What's going on? What is-" Just barely making out a figure in midair, she jumped back with a yelp and covered her face. "Drive, Shane! Drive!"

"Well _that's_ degrading," Lia mumbled, watching Shane comply and speed away from her. "I mean, she didn't even get a good look at me! I hope she didn't. If she did, then that means I look scary, don't it?"

 **Again, I had the first few chapters written up, though I did quite some editing before publishing them. Obviously. But now I...I've got nothin', to put it simply. Sooo, yeah, this is where it starts to take longer.**

 **Sorry I took so long, I felt pretty sucky knowing I hadn't published anything yet, so...If ya hate this chapter as much as I did, I'm totally get it. I hate every damn word. I mean, that other chapter I began to write up...I just feel like it gave...TMI, I guess.**

 **I don't wanna call this chapter a filler, 'cause it's not, but it definitely isn't very exciting. If you did remotely enjoy it, I'm glad, but if you didn't...I mean, idk, go ahead and criticize it. (Just, plz no flames :)**

 **Also, if you have any questions about anything, maybe something Lia did/didn't do, feel free to ask. It gets confusing, since I don't write all that well, but I'm hoping to improve. (Might even add this to AO3 or somethin')**

 **R &R...**


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